Blissfully Innocent
by X-XsiobhanX-X
Summary: Seven year old Ginny Weasley made friends with a little blonde boy and the 2 became as close as brother and sister. Until circumstances pulled them apart. Now, four years later, Ginny is starting her first year at Hogwarts, will fate bring them together?
1. Chapter 1

**Blissfully Innocent.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, everything belongs to J.K.Rowling.

"No Ginny, you're too young! We don't want you to play with us!"

Seven-year-old Ginny Weasley watched as her six brothers left without her. It wasn't fair! They always left her behind! And now they'd made her cry.

She'd show them, she'd have much more fun without her stupid brothers. Little Ginny pulled on her pink jacket, that clashed horribly with her bright orange hair, before leaving the house.

She kicked pebbles along the ground and skipped down the path until she was met with the tall, intimidating trees at the edge of the forest. She was sure she'd find something entertaining to do in there. The small redhead squeezed past the trunks until she came to her most favourite place in the world. It was her most favourite place because only she knew about it, it was where she'd go if she was ever upset or angry. Ginny Weasley had a hot temper and often needed somewhere to go to cool down.

In front of her sat a brightly lit clearing in the middle of the forest. A stream of fresh, sparkling water could be seen and along the sides of the stream were many different weeds and flowers, adding to the natural smell of the magical place. The sounds of birds and squirells could be heard as they went about their daily life only stopping once to stare at the new arrival before scattering off again. Once, Ginny had even seen a dear drink from the stream.

Ginny spent the next hour trying to occupy herself but her thoughts kept wondering unwillingly back to her brothers and she wondered if they were having fun without her. This caused the little girl to start crying again, she wanted so much for her brothers to love her and want to have her around. But they didn't, none of them wanted her.

Ginny sat in the mud by the stream crying and feeling lonely, when she heard a twig snap behind her. She twisted her head around swiftly and was meet by a pair of dazzling grey eyes. She stood up quickly, not caring that she'd gotten her best dress all dirty. Ginny cocked her head to the side and stared with unbridled curiosity at the young, blond boy who stood only metres away from her.

He too stared at the girl, taking in her bright hair and muddy dress and then lastly noticing her tear stricken face. What a strange thing it was. Never had he seen such a thing in his life. This eight year old had grown up surrounded by fineries and rich people dressed in extravagant attire.

The boy in front of Ginny was dressed in fantastically tailored robes of green and sported a heavy looking grey fur cloak with a silver clasp. Ginny has only ever seen boys like him in story books, rich, pampered little prince. Ginny instantly liked him, she always did have a taste for strange things and now she had a rich, smug looking boy to add to the list.

Ginny grinned at him and the boy eyed her suspiciously before responding with a half-hearted, hesitant smile. Ginny took this to mean he liked her too and walked over to him. He seemed so tense and Ginny wondered whether he was in pain.

Her mother had taught Ginny manners and Ginny had never met this boy before, therefore she stuck out a small freckled hand for him to shake. The boy stared down at the hand as though it may eat him.

"Hi" the creature spoke "I'm Ginny Weasley what's your name?" It asked. Ah so it had a name and it looked like a girl. Ginny was shocked when young Draco took her hand, raised it to his face and brushed his lips against it.

"Hello, I am Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of Lord and Lady Malfoy and heir of Malfoy manor." Draco repeated what his parents had told him to say if anyone should ask who he was. Draco held his head high and his arms down by his sides like how he'd been taught. Young Ginny burst out laughing at the serious looking child. "I fail to see what is so funny about my name." Draco told her sternly. Ginny ceased laughing but kept a friendly smile on her face. Ginny Weasley baffled Draco Malfoy. He'd never seen anyone laugh like that before; he'd heard his mother's polite giggle and his betrothed's fake laugh. But never before had someone been so open with their emotions in front of him.

"I'm sorry Draco," Ginny said. "Do you want to pick flowers with me?"

Pick flowers! He would get his hands dirty! Or worse his robes! But there was something about little Ginny Weasley that made Draco want to be more like her. Yes, she was dirty and yes, her clothes were simply awful, but the girl was well loved and it showed through the way she acted and spoke and even laughed. That's the reason why when Ginny Weasley asked Draco Malfoy to pick flowers with her by the stream, he took her up on her offer.

The pair picked flowers, paddled in the stream and chatted away together the whole morning. Draco was very nervous around Ginny, he'd never had a friend like her before, all of his friends were the sons or daughters of important, rich men.

As the morning drew to a close and Ginny's mother shouted to her for lunch, the two new friends were forced to say goodbye.

"You'll come back tomorrow won't you?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Yes, if you promise to be here. I'll come at nine o'clock." he answered.

"Oh I promise! I've never had a friend like you before," Ginny told him and he raised an eyebrow. "I like you Draco Malfoy and we'll be friends forever and ever." and with that Ginny gave Draco a tight hug, which Draco was too shocked to return, and skipped off in the direction of her house.

Eight year old Draco Malfoy stood still, thinking about the strange and wonderful morning he'd had. He'd picked flowers for the first time, he'd paddled his feet in water for the first time and he'd made friends with a strange little girl with a nice laugh and a friendly smile. Yes, today had been a very good day. But would his parents approve of the Weasley child? Draco's gut feeling was saying that they wouldn't.

The next morning Ginny ate her breakfast as quickly as humanly possible and was out the door and walking towards the forest in a flash. She really didn't want to keep her new friend waiting. Ironically, Draco had been having similar thoughts and had arrived at the clearing fifteen minutes before nine o'clock.

Ginny made that familiar route through the tree trunks until she arrived at the brightly lit clearing. She was relieved to see Draco standing by the stream trying to skip rocks, but the water was far too shallow and the rock, instead of skimming the water, landed heavily sending a splash in the direction of Draco. He coughed and spluttered while Ginny, from behind him, laughed loudly at the comical scene.

Draco turned around with a wet face and grinned at Ginny, she smile back brightly and skipped over to greet him.

Little Draco was definitely relaxing around Ginny. She was so unlike anyone he'd ever meet and he found that very refreshing. Pretty soon their trips to the clearing became a daily thing. Draco shared secrets with Ginny and told her things he'd never tell anyone, not even his best friend since birth Blaise Zabini, but Ginny noticed he always dodged questions about his home or family. She told him stories, often they were outrageous and completely fiction but other times they'd be stories about her ridiculously large family. About the kinds of mischief her six brothers got themselves into. Ginny's life sounded like so much fun! Draco longed to have siblings and often wished Ginny was his sister.

Over the next few months Ginny and Draco became as close as brother and sister. Whenever the pair had a spare moment they'd rush off to the clearing in hopes that the other might be there waiting for them. Ginny's family started to wonder where Ginny was spending all of her time and why she was hardly ever at home any more, but her family had never seen their little girl look so happy and choose not to mention anything. Draco's family on the other hand noticed nothing, they never did; neither of his parents took much of an interest in the boy unless it was to reprimand him, which was usually done in the evening, after his parents had finished whatever it was they did during they day.

Draco was making his daily trip to the clearing in the forest, as he drew closer he heard muffled sobs coming from a little, shaking, red lump sitting on a tree stump. The sobs were coming from his best friend Ginny Weasley. As she looked up Draco was reminded of the first time they'd met and how shocked he was to see someone crying. His father had told him long ago that crying was something only weak people did and that it was a waste of time. He himself had been taught not to cry since before he could speak. And yet watching the little girl he'd grown so close to with tears running from her big brown eyes brought on a wave of emotion he didn't know he possessed and he felt an uncomfortable stinging in the corners of his own eyes.

He walked over to Ginny and sat down beside her, not sure what to do as he'd never had to deal with a crying person before, he put a comforting arm around her and waited to see her reaction. She simply gave him a watery smile. He took that to mean she was okay with it and started to ask the question that was bugging him.

"Why are you crying?" when she said nothing he decided to try a different tactic "I remember the first time I saw you, you had been crying then also. Are you going to tell me, or will I have to force it out of you?" he asked and she grinned up at him, before tightly closing her mouth with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Suit yourself." And with that Draco started to tickle Ginny so hard that after five minutes she was breathless from laughing and gave up.

"Okay, okay I'll tell you. My brothers have gone to a field by my house to play Quidditch and I really wanted to go too but I'm never allowed they always say I'm too young and that they don't want me to play with them. It really upsets me 'cause I love them a lot and I don't think they love me." By the time Ginny was finished she felt like she was going to cry again. This boy beside her always listened to whatever she had to say, never interrupting or contradicting her. He looked at simplest things as though he'd never seen them before. The way he sometimes spoke or acted was almost as if he'd never said or done anything like it in his short life. It was after Ginny noticed these things when she realised; herself and Draco lived very different lives.

Draco racked his brains for something had would make Ginny feel better. "Hey I know! Why don't I take you flying? I have a broom; we could go to that field you were talking about, only if you want to."

"Really, could we? Oh I'd love to? When, when, when?" Ginny asked impatiently. She was bouncing up and down in excitement with all former sorrows forgotten.

"Tomorrow morning, if you'd like. We'll meet here and then walk down. Have you ever been on a broomstick Ginny?" Draco asked.

Ginny shook her little red head. "No never. But I've always wanted too. I'm soooooo excited. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the bestest friend in the whole wide world Draco!" Draco blushed slightly at what she had said; Draco Malfoy was not used to getting compliments. He was used to insults, shouting and threats. Ginny Weasley was a little ray of sun shine, the silver lining in his great big, black cloud of a life.

The two children spent the rest of the day talking and planning what they were going to do the next day. How Draco would smuggle his broom outside, how they would reach the field without getting caught and what things Draco would teach Ginny. When it was unfortunately time to say their goodbyes Ginny was ready to burst with excitement.

She could hardly contain herself when her mother asked why she couldn't stay still at the dinner table or when Bill asked why she had a stupid grin plastered on her face. She told her mother she just had ants in her pants (She'd heard the phrase being used by muggle parents when their children wouldn't stay still) and she told her brother to bog off and mind his own business before she let the family ghoul lose in his precious bedroom. Both replies worked well and seven-year-old Ginny was able to reach her bedroom without any more nosey family members interrogating her.

She lay down in bed contemplating why she wasn't telling her family about Draco. She always told them anything she found interesting. There was such a mysterious air about Draco Malfoy, he told her very little about his life at home. He preferred to listen than to talk, he sat by Ginny when she told her stories and soaked in every word she said. They was something about Draco that made Ginny want to keep him her secret. She could just imagine the reactions she'd receive if she did tell her family. Her father would be worried, her mother would be angry and disapproving, Bill would be protective, Charlie would tell everyone he didn't care, storm up to his room and brood about how life wasn't fair as teenagers do, Percy would lecture her, the twins would tease her and Ron would want to meet him. The latter surprisingly, worried her the most. She was very possessive of Draco and the thought of having to share him with someone was enough to make her not want to tell them anything. She found him first and he was her friend, not theirs. Her brothers got everything and were able to do anything, she wanted at least one thing that they didn't have and that thing was Draco Malfoy.

Ginny woke up far too early the next morning; it was so early that the sun wasn't even up. _'The sun isn't even awake! So why am I?' _Ginny asked herself whilst rubbing her sleepy eyes. She lay back down, pulled the sheets over her head and tried her best to fall back to sleep. But none of her efforts worked. She rolled over on to back, she curled up into a small ball, she lay flat on her stomach with her face in her pillow, but however hard she tried she simply would not fall asleep.

Ginny sighed loudly and stepped out of her bed, shuffling her feet across the cold wooden floor she made her way to the bathroom. She picked up her purple toothbrush and spread on some fruity gluey toothpaste. Whilst she brushed her little teeth she wondered to herself why she'd woken up so early, then memories of the day before came rushing back to her and she grinned into the mirror opposite her. Today was the day she would fly on a broomstick for the first time in her life. Yes, today was definitely an important day; of course she'd woken up early. Her body had wanted her to be absolutely ready and alert. She spat out the foam that brushing her teeth had caused and washed her hands and face. Ginny ran back to her tiny bedroom and opened her wardrobe, frowning at the contents. She wished she owned some really pretty clothes like the muggle girls she saw in the town, but all her clothes used to belong to her brothers or cousins she'd never even meet, apart from her jacket and a few dresses her mother had made her. After much deliberation, Ginny decided on wearing a red t-shirt and Bill's old dungarees.

After she was washed and fully dressed Ginny stomped her way down the stairs, making sure to make as much noise as possible. As was to be expected nobody was awake, or if they were they weren't down stairs. Ginny stared up at the clock on her wall and tried to understand the time, she was never very good at telling the time and she struggled to make it out, all she knew was that the small hand was very near the number five. She was meeting Draco at eight o'clock that means she had at least three hours to wait. Ginny was proud of herself for being able to work around her time-telling problem but also sad that she had so long to wait before seeing Draco.

At six o'clock Ginny's mother, Molly Weasley had come down stairs, ready to cook breakfast for her husband and children, only to find her youngest child and only daughter sitting in an arm chair watching the clock as it ticked away each second.

"Ginny dear, you're up early." Molly stated whilst pulling pots and pans out of a cupboard.

"Couldn't sleep. What time is it mum?" Ginny asked ripping her eyes away from the clock.

"It's about ten past six darling, why?" Her mother asked suspiciously.

Ginny hesitated, she didn't like lying to her mum but she also didn't want her to know she was going flying with her friend. She decided on not lying but also not telling the entire truth.

"I'm going out to play at eight o'clock," her mother turned to look at her and Ginny knew what she was about to ask "I'm going up to the field." Ginny answered truthfully. Her mother nodded and carried on pottering around the kitchen.

As soon as the clock struck eight, Ginny bolted out of her sit, threw on her cardigan and waved goodbye to her confused family.

"What the bloody hell is up with that girl?!" asked Charlie.

"Watch your language young man or I'll wash your mouth out with soap! I don't know what's happening in Ginny's life but I intend to find out." Mrs Weasley told her family.

"I think she's playing with those muggle brats again." Spoke Percy.

"I think she's barking." George told everyone grinning.

"I agree with George, she's probably off playing with her imaginary friend." Laughed Fred.

"Well I think she's got a boyfriend," Muttered Bill.

"Don't be silly Bill, Ginny is much too young to be interested in boys." Molly told her son sternly.

"Think what you want mum but it all makes sense, she's very secretive, she out all the time and no one knows where she goes or who she's with." Bill then stood up and left the table. Mr and Mrs Weasley looked worried.

"You don't think it's true do you Arthur?" asked Molly in a scared voice.

"Of course not Molly dear, she's probably just found a new friend. It might be a muggle like what Percy was saying." Arthur reasoned with her.

"Oh, but she's been like this for months now. I'm worried about her."

"Don't be, I'm sure she perfectly fine." Arthur said, trying to assure his wife.

Ginny did not feel perfectly fine… she felt absolutely brilliant! She was bubbling with excitement as she ran as fast as she could towards the trees. She made it to the clearing in record time. "Draco! Hi, hi, hi." Ginny shouted, then ran over to greet him properly. He dropped the broom and bag he'd been carrying just in time, Ginny jumped into his open arms and squeezed him tightly, he hugged back and grinned over her shoulder. Ginny pulled away first "Come on lets not waste time we only have four hours!" Ginny told him. Grabbing his hand, she started to drag him out of the forest. Draco laughed at her impatient attitude before picking up the broom and bag and letting her lead him out of the trees and up a path.

Ginny didn't need to drag him now but she didn't let go of him. Draco looked down at her hand gripped tightly around his own, he felt happiness swell inside of him and his white cheeks coloured dramatically. He didn't want Ginny to see him blushing so he looked down at the ground as he walked, successfully hiding his red face with his hair that was in desperate need of a good trim. She'd think he was silly and that was the last think he'd wanted. They kept walking at a regular speed and Ginny chatted away to Draco like she always did, unfazed by his hand holding hers. Draco chanced a peek at her face and saw her smiling straight ahead with her lips moving to form every word coming out of her little pink lips, her cheeks were rosy from the warm summer breeze and her big, brown eyes were shining with excitement. At that moment Draco thought she was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen and he couldn't help but stare. He'd never thought of her as ugly, she was much to interesting to be ugly, but he'd never thought of her like he did then. This feeling was slightly uncomfortable and he wondered what had happened to have made him see her in a new light. Ginny carried on talking all the way up to her field; Draco wondered if it was the excitement that had made her talk so much. Then he remembered that Ginny talked when she was bored, happy, sad, hungry, tired and nervous. In fact she never shut up. Draco smiled at that thought. There was never a dull moment with Ginny around, no awkward silences, actually, no silences at all!

The pair made it to the field and Ginny introduced Draco formally as though she as introducing Draco to an important family member not a patch of grass. Draco laughed at her silliness and sat down on the dry ground. Ginny joined him and Draco become very aware of her arm brushing against his. She reached over and picked up Draco's broom carefully with both hands and stared at it in awe. It was so beautiful! Shiny and sturdy, Ginny longed to be riding it straight away. "It's fabulous Draco. What's in the bag?" she asked curiously.

"A quaffle," he answered and pulled out a football sized, red, leather ball. "I thought we might be able to play a game with it." Ginny nodded her head in agreement.

"First I'll show you the basics and then I'll let you fly." He told her smiling.

And so he did. He told her how a broom works, he told her how to hold a broom and he told her how to kick off from the ground. She listened to everything he said, nodded in the right places and hung on his every word. Draco liked being in control, he was so used to her being the one who talked all the time. He was the one who usually listened and having her full attention was exhilarating. Though after half an hour Ginny was starting to grow bored and restless with listening, she wanted action, she wanted to be in the air. Draco sighed and reluctantly agreed that that was enough talking for the day. She grinned and clapped her hands in anticipation.

Ginny held her hand over the broom and ordered it 'up'. It did as it was told and Ginny mounted it exactly how Draco had shown her. She kicked off the ground lightly, her face twisted in concentration and the broom hovered about five feet from the ground. Ginny was ecstatic "It worked! It worked!" she shouted down to Draco. He smiled and congratulated her. "Come on with me. I want to go higher, but not by myself, come on with me, please!" she pleaded with him and he agreed.

Ginny angled the broom downwards and it moved slowly towards Draco. Once she was low enough, Ginny hopped off the broom and Draco climbed on. He moved the broom further down and waited for Ginny to climb on behind him. Ginny looked at Draco on his broom and smiled, he looked so much more comfortable in the air than on land. She swung her leg over the broom and used the back of Draco's robes to pull herself up. Once she was sited on the broom she wrapped her arms instinctively around Draco's waist, Draco stared down at her arms in shock, a familiar happiness filling him up as he felt her cheek resting on his back.

"Are you ready Ginny?" Draco asked and he felt her nod her head against his back. He kicked his feet off the ground with force and Ginny gasped in shock. Up and up they went until they were so high that they had to stop for fear of muggles seeing them.

Ginny looked down at the world below her, little houses and tiny tree tops. It was such an adrenalin rush to be flying so high in the sky where she could quite easily fall to her death. But Ginny trusted her best friend not to let her fall meaning she was free to enjoy the views and the buzz of flying through the warm, morning air.

"Higher Draco, higher!" Ginny shouted then laughed loudly. Draco raised the tip of his broom and flew them higher in the air, watching out for any muggles may have seen them. After five minutes of flying through the clouds Draco explained that it was too risky to fly that high for too long. Ginny wasn't happy about flying lower but understood.

Once their feet were back firmly on the ground Draco began to explain the rules of 'catch'. Ginny listened with attentive ears and was itching to get back on Draco's broom. There wasn't really much to the game. Ginny flew close by and Draco threw the quaffle for her to catch, she'd then pass it back to him and the sequence would start again.

In one swish movement Ginny was back on the broom and whizzing through the air so fast that she was almost just a blur. Draco gave her a few minutes to get used to moving around on the broom before passing her the quaffle. She missed the first one completely and the second one bounced right out of her hands, but on the third attempt she caught the red quaffle in between her small hands and shouted out in joy at her success. Draco clapped his approval and she passed the quaffle back to him. They spent about one hour and a half doing this. Draco, making the throws slightly harder each time until eventually Ginny was forced to fly half the width of the field in order to catch the quaffle.

Dinner time creeped closer and Ginny and Draco wanted to visit the clearing before saying goodbye for the day meaning they had to pack away the quaffle and get ready to leave.

"Thank you so, so much for showing me how to fly Draco, today was one of the best days of my live. I don't need six stupid brothers when I have you!" Ginny told him smiling brightly. Draco felt his white cheeks turn red once again and he smiled sheepishly.

"You were great Ginny, you'll make a excellent chaser one day." He told her truthfully.

Ginny pushed her red hair behind her ear and winked cheekily at him. She saw the shocked look on his young face and burst out laughing, like she always did when Draco did something she found amusing

The forest came into view and Ginny took Draco's hand again. Draco stiffened then relaxed when he realised she'd meant it in friendly way. She skipped along next to him and whistled a catching tune, she seemed so innocent.

They dodged the trees quickly and settled down on an old tree stump. "Percy, Charlie and Bill are going to Hogwarts in a few weeks," Ginny stated whilst kicking her feet off the bark of a near by tree "I can't wait till I'm old enough to go to Hogwarts, I've got another four years to wait yet." Ginny huffed.

"Well I'm lucky, I only have three years to wait. What house do you want to be sorted into?" he asked genuinely curious.

"Well…I'd like to be in Ravenclaw but my family wants me to be in Gryffindor; everyone in my family has been placed in Gryffindor." Ginny looked miserable.

"Well _I_ want to be in Slytherin. But I wouldn't mind being in Ravenclaw I suppose."

"Hey! We can be in Ravenclaw together Draco!" Ginny told him, her mind made up. Draco didn't want to bore her with tales of how his father had told him if he wasn't in Slytherin he'd disown him, it would only serve to depress her. "We'll always be best friends won't we Draco?" she asked.

"Always and forever Ginny." He promised and she seemed satisfied.

"Can we go flying again tomorrow? And the next day and the next day?" Ginny asked hopefully, Draco laughed and nodded. Right then Ginny heard her mother shouting and sighed dramatically. "Got to go." She told him, then she bent down to give him a brief hug before skipping off "See you tomorrow Draco!" she shouted before disappearing between the trees.

**A/N: Well? Was it good/bad/average? Review and tell me please :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Blissfully Innocent CH 2

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own so don't sue.

"Rise and shine sleepy head!" Spoke Mrs Weasley fondly as she tried her best to coax her daughter out of her warm bed. Ginny muttered something unintelligible before turning over. Molly huffed slightly at her child's laziness. "GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY! Remove yourself from that bed this instant or I'll feed your pancakes to the Gnomes young lady!" At the mention of the word pancakes Ginny bolted out of bed and ran down the stairs, jumping the last four steps. Molly shook her head in disbelieve and sighed before joining her family downstairs. 

Ginny made small talk with her parents and brothers at the breakfast table whilst all along wishing she was back on Draco's broom, soaring through the warm, sweet air. She never felt as alive as she did on a broomstick and only wished she'd ridden on one sooner. When breakfast was officially over and the only person still speaking was Percy (who seemed unable to cease talking about how wonderful he was. Even Ginny's chant of 'Shut up, Shut up, Please shut up.' Didn't seem to work) only then was Ginny free to change out of her night shirt and into some muggle clothes. 

She left the house with a small wave to her family and set off along the path to the forest where Draco, no doubt, was waiting for her, hopefully with his broomstick.

Ginny saw the clearing ahead of her and had to untangle her t-shirt from a tree branch before making it safely to the stream. Draco wasn't there yet and Ginny sat down, waiting patiently for him to appear between the tree trunks with his familiar small, smile on his face which apparently was reserved for her only. It took another twenty minutes before Draco arrived! And Ginny was ready to shout at him playfully for keeping her waiting so long when she noticed how he winced in pain as she gave him a friendly hug. He chose not to meet her questioning gaze and instead said "Well, shall we go then? I have my broom."

"What's wrong Draco? My hugs aren't painful are they?" Ginny asked, concern shining in her beautiful eyes. Draco sighed at her innocence; trust Ginny to think his pain was her fault! 

"Don't be silly Gin, you've done nothing to hurt me." She opened her mouth to ask again what was wrong but he spoke first "Nothing's wrong with me, I'm fine I promise." 

Ginny pursed her lips together and put both of her petite hands on her hips "I don't believe one word of that Draco Malfoy. You tell me what's wrong with you right now or I'll force it out of you!" Draco knew the girl meant business and sighed in defeat. He turned around and lifted his shirt up and off over his head, showing her the extent of his wounds, huge fresh gashes were shown, one particularly big one starting from his shoulder and ending below his waist. The parts of his back and stomach that weren't red or bleeding were black and blue with newly forming bruises. Draco had expected Ginny to scream in horror or at least gasp in surprise, but she didn't make a single sound and Draco turned around to see if she'd ran away, but she hadn't. She stood exactly how she had been with her eyes locked on his wounded stomach. She moved her gaze to meet his eye's and he saw them glistening with unshed tears. She let her hands slip away from her waist and started to move towards him. He furrowed his brow in confusion at how his friend was acting but he never lost eye contact with her as she moved closer. When she was close enough for Draco to count every freckle on her young face he noticed a new emotion swimming in her eyes…Anger.

Was she angry at him? It was hardly his fault! But then she asked, through gritted teeth "Who did this to you?" and it dawned on him that she wasn't angry at him! She was angry at the person who had hurt him! Draco was touched by her concern and it felt wonderful to have her feeling angry at the monster that had wounded him so badly that it hurt every time he moved. 

Draco shook his head but Ginny persisted and he was forced to whisper "My Father." He then hung his head in shame. The last thing he'd wanted was for Ginny to know his father beat him. He usually only did it at an evening and Draco's wounds would have magically healed before he'd met up with Ginny the next day, his mothers doing no doubt. But that day his father had come home early hours of the morning in a foul mood and used Draco as a way of letting go of his anger. Though Draco didn't realise this, he'd thought it was his own fault why his father hit him, he'd thought that he was bad and deserved it because that's what he'd always been told. 

Ginny was beyond angry, she was livid! How dare that evil man hurt her Draco, how dare he hit his own son. The thought of it made Ginny's blood boil and her eyes narrow. "That's horrible! How dare he! Oh Draco I'm so sorry, how can I help? If I ever see your dad I'm going to hurt him so bad that he'll cry for weeks and weeks and weeks and then he'll be sorry he ever hurt you!" 

Draco looked up again and shivered with pain, the warm summer wind had blown upon him and even something as weak as that wind was enough to make Draco cry out in pain as it lapped over his open wounds. He shouldn't have come that day, he should have stayed in his house. But he hadn't wanted to let Ginny down by not showing up, so despite his brutal injuries he went anyway. Ginny's anger intensified three-fold at the sound of her best friend's cry of pain. She'd never seen him look so defeated before, so out of control and broken. She reached out her hand and grazed it gently across Draco wounded chest, he grimaced slightly but welcomed the feel of her warm hand. She bit her lip in some sort of concentration, she pressed her hand down a little harder and did the same with the other one. Draco stiffened then relaxed once the pain subsided. He hadn't a clue what she was doing but she seemed to know. Then, without warning, Draco felt his skin tingle under her touch and he remained still as the feeling spread through his whole body, easing the pain and making it bearable. He looked down at her hands and gasped, they were glowing red with powerful magic. It was common knowledge that young witches and wizards displayed magical ability without a wand from a very young age, but the magic Ginny was using was an advanced healing spell. Draco stared in pure awe at this strange little girl struggling to handle a spell that should be impossible to use by a seven-year-old witch whom had had absolutely no magical training or education. Ginny Weasley was full of surprises. 

Slowly but surely the cuts and bruise faded away until only a few scars remained, a constant reminder of what an unfair life young Draco led. Ginny traced her fingers lightly over the scars and sighed. "I'm sorry, that's the best I could do." She told him and he laughed at her apology and told her not to be so silly. He said she was amazing for being able to do such a spell and also said he was grateful to her for healing him. Draco then pulled his shirt back on and sat down on the soft ground surrounded by delicate wildflowers. Ginny joined him and rested her head on his shoulder. Such a spell had worn the girl out but it was worth it, she couldn't have done nothing to help Draco that would have made her feel crappy and useless. She hadn't even known she possessed the ability to do something like that. Maybe it had been her love for her best friend that literally shone through. Her love for him… she loved him? Huh, she must. What a strange thing love is. She'd loved him for a while now but only when she saw him in such pain did she finally understand what that meant. It meant she cared deeply about him, it meant that when someone hurt him it made her angry and it meant that all-in-all she'd do anything for him because she wanted him to be happy and that's what loving someone truly means, putting that someone else's happiness in front of your own. Ginny's head buzzed with this new found information and she finally realised she loved that boy just as much, if not more, than her own brothers! 

"Do you love me Draco?" Ginny asked and Draco was startled, she hadn't spoken in a long time and he'd thought she'd fallen asleep. He then remembered her question and his cheeks burned under her gaze. How could she ask such a question without even feeling a slightly bit nervous or uncomfortable? "Like as a sister. Would you be angry if someone hurt me? Do you want me to be happy?" she asked softly, staring straight ahead and not looking for a reaction. 

"Of course I love you Gin. You're my best friend in the whole wide world and yes I would be angry if someone hurt you and yes I really, really want you to be happy." He blushed brighter as she turned and beamed at him, obviously having heard exactly what she'd wanted to hear. 

After that Ginny returned to her usual self and chatted away to Draco about how she'd won her brother Ron at exploding snaps and how she'd beaten Fred and George at a 'How-Many-Cauldron-Cakes-Can-You-Eat-Without-Throwing-Up' competition. Draco laughed along with her and the pair had a great time together. 

"I guess we'll have to leave flying until tomorrow it's almost dinner time." Draco announced at ten minutes to twelve. 

Ginny frowned and Draco asked what was wrong. "I don't want you to go back to your home. What if your father hurts you again?" Draco smiled at her before giving her a tight hug and tried his best to assure her (and himself) that he'd be absolutely fine. 

The beginning of august was over in a flash, Ginny's eighth birthday was drawing closer and Ginny's parents were trying to stretch their money beyond breaking point. Three of their children what be attending Hogwarts in less then three weeks, meaning they all needed new robes, books and equipment. 

Ginny was, at that point, checking of 10th August on her count-down calendar. She looked at the calendar in front of her and smiled at what it read; in less then twenty-four-hours Ginny Weasley would be eight-years-old. She skipped down stairs, fully dressed, and sat down next to Fred, inhaling the sweet smells of the breakfast her mother was busy cooking. "Guess what, guess what, guess what!" she chanted whilst bouncing up and down in her seat. 

"What." Replied a hand full of her brothers.

"Guess!" she demanded.

"Uh… you swallowed Percy's homework?"

"You're secretly a Squib?" 

"You have a pet Basilisk?"

"You're really a man?"

"You're not really our sister at all and you were actually adopted as a baby?"

"The reason you can't sit still is because you have a Red Cap living in your bottom?…Every one knows they like to live in holes." Answered each of her brothers and watched in amusement as Ginny scowled and folded her arms.

"No silly! It's my _birthday_ tomorrow, don't any of you forget!"

"How could we? You remind us every half hour." Moaned Charlie. Ginny sunk lower in her sit and waited until her mother served breakfast so she could shoot off to meet Draco and make sure his father hadn't hurt him again. When Draco had told her it was his father who had hurt him so badly Ginny was shocked into silence and not a lot could manage that. What shocked her was that she could barely believe a father would willingly and purposely hurt his own child. She could never imagine her own father ever hitting her or her brothers, the thought was preposterous! And if Draco wasn't her best friend and if she didn't trust him with her life than she probably wouldn't have believed him.

One hour later Ginny had successfully finished eating her breakfast whilst, in the meantime, reminding her family of her birth date another fourteen times before leaving the house and jogging to the clearing where she found, to her relief, a grinning Draco holding his broom. Ginny beamed back at him. 

"Shall we Lady Weasley?" Draco asked whilst sticking out his hand for Ginny to hold whilst they made their way up to the field where the flying lessons would continue. Ginny giggled at his mock (though only slightly mock) grown-up, polite manner of speaking before taking his hand and the pair walked out of the trees and onto the path. 

"Guess what day it is tomorrow." Ginny said looking up at him.

"Eh…Wednesday?" Draco asked dumbly and Ginny sighed dramatically.

"Well yes obviously but it's also my birthday!" Ginny said clapping her hands the way she always did when she was excited. Draco grinned at her and thought how cute she looked with her red hair in bunches. 

"That's great Ginny. Will you still be able to come and see me?" He asked dreading the thought of having to spend a whole day without seeing her once.

Ginny's smile dropped off her face. Birthdays in her family were a time to be with your family and only your family. To her Draco might as well be related to her but she was sure her real family wouldn't think of it like that. How could she ruin centuries of tradition? 

"I don't think I will be able to. I have to spend the day with just my family." Draco was upset but then saw how sad this made Ginny and understood it wasn't her fault.

"That's okay. I'll see you the day after." He tried to console her. They'd reached the field now and Draco handed Ginny his broom and laughed at her eagerness. She took the broom and swung her leg over it without a single word spoken and was soon zooming past Draco. It was like an addiction and she'd been off a broom for far too long in her eyes. She'd felt a strong need to feel the rushing wind in her face and stare down upon the world as though it was merely a toy world instead of the real earth that she was part of. 

She flew higher and higher until she heard Draco shouting for her to come down, the wind carrying his voice until it reached her ears. She reluctantly obliged and was soon slowing the broom down as she made her landing. 

"Do you know the rules of Quidditch?" Draco asked half knowing the answer.

"Of course I do!" she told him with a scandalous look on her face.

"Okay, okay! I was only checking. Now, obviously we can't play a game of Quidditch because there are only two of us and only one broom but I could teach you some of my favourite moves?" Ginny nodded eagerly and Draco hopped, gracefully on to his broom and flew low enough for Ginny to see what he was teaching her. 

After about two and a half hours of none stop flying Ginny had almost mastered four moves and Draco watched with pride as she repeated them in front of him. First she done her personal favourite, the Sloth Grip Roll, Draco thought it necessary to teach her that particular move because it was so effective in dodging those pesky Bludgers. One minute Ginny was sited steadily on the broom and the next minute she was upside down with her hands and feet gripped tightly to the airborne broomstick, she grinned down confidently at Draco before rolling back up into a sitting position.

Next to demonstrate was very similar to the Sloth Grip Roll but a lot harder, Ginny needed all of her strength in order to be able to pull off the Starfish and Stick. Before she partially launched herself from the broom she curled her foot around the broomstick, and then when she felt ready she rolled off the broom whilst keeping hold of it with one delicate hand. She stuck out the arm and leg that wasn't gripping the broom in order to block invisible Quaffle's. Draco had only taught her that move in case she decided to become a Keeper. Which he new she probably wouldn't anyway, she loved to move fast and would get bored with guarding goal hoops.

After the Starfish and Stick she showed Draco how well she could perform the highly dangerous Woolloongong Shimmy, which Draco had been, quite reluctant to teach her for fear of her hurting herself. But with much persuasion on Ginny's part Draco agreed to teach her and as a result she was whizzing through the sky at top speed, moving in a zig-zagging movement intend to throw off opposing Chasers. This was definitely the most exhilarating Quidditch move and always left Ginny feeling hyper and buzzing. 

The last of the moves Draco taught Ginny was the very famous Wronski Fient. Ginny spend no time in whooshing upwards until Draco could only see the orange of her hair. Then, with out warning Ginny came speeding vertically downwards and Draco grasped in horror. She was flying much to fast; she would surely crash if she didn't pull out of the dive soon, another metre downwards still she didn't pull out, another metre and another. Draco watched helplessly as Ginny came hurdling towards the ground, now they was only few a few metres between her and the earth un till… she pulled out of the dive, using all her strength to pull on the front of her broom and it obediently obeyed, Ginny's feet skimmed the grassy ground but she was now flying horizontally again and at a much safer speed. Draco let out a sigh of pure relief and walked over to help the crazy girl off her broom. It was completely stupid of her to have hung on as long as she had but even Draco couldn't deny that that had been a great performance. 

Draco hugged Ginny tightly when she stepped off the broom and reprimanded her for doing something so foolish. She laughed in his face and hooked her arm through his as the pair started to walk back across the field. Draco could never stay mad at Ginny for long and was much too happy at having her arm linked into his to pursue his ranting. 

The said a lengthy goodbye once they'd reached the end of the cobbled path, knowing that they wouldn't see each other the next day. 

Ginny walked through the door to find all of her brothers sitting in a huddle talking in frantic whispers. Ginny pulled off her jumper quietly and tip-toed closer, trying to hear what her trouble-making brothers were up to now. But she stepped on a squeaky floorboard and the brothers jumped back as though they'd been electrocuted. Ginny frowned at the redheads and they smiled back innocently, too innocently…they were up to something and if Ginny new her brothers it would probably be very mean and very funny. She gave them a warning glare before leaving the room in search of something to settle her grumbling stomach. 

After dinner Ginny reluctantly traipsed upstairs and into the bathroom where her bubbly bath was waiting for her. As she lay in the water Ginny wondered what her annoying big brothers were up to, if they ruined her birthday she would never speak to them ever, ever again. 

Meanwhile, downstairs Ginny's brothers were resuming the conversation that had previously been interrupted by Ginny. 

"I still think we should go with my idea." Whined Fred.

"If we went with your idea we'd be murdered in our sleep." Stated Percy, who was by far the most mature and sensible out of them all, despite Bill and Charlie being older than him.

Fred and George grinned at each other.

"I wasn't joking when I told you what I think she'd like." Said Bill.

"But I'll bet it'll cost loads." Moaned Charlie.

"But if we put all or money together I'm sure we'd be able to afford one." Percy assured them.

"Yeah and you're right Bill she would love one." Agreed Ron. 

"It's settled then!" Announced Fred and George in unison.

"We'll have to go now if we want to get there before the shop closes it's almost six o'clock." Worried Bill. 

"It was stupid of us to leave it till last minute!. Lets go now, I'll go get Mum."

And so the six boys left for Diagon Alley with their mother, in search of Ginny's birthday present. 

It was half past seven and Ginny was lying in bed, but was far from falling asleep. How could she when she when she would be a year older tomorrow? It was an important day and Ginny was much to excited to do something as boring as going to sleep. 

As the minutes ticked by Ginny was still far away from the land of nod and no easy way of reaching it. She sat up in bed with nothing to do except twiddle her thumbs in a bored manner. These were the times she wished she had Draco with her to talk to. Spending so long in silence was almost unbearable for Ginny and she longed to say something, anything but she couldn't very well sit and talk to herself. She lay back down and thought about the last four months of her life, that summer had been one of the best Ginny had ever had and she never wanted it to end. She thought about the first day she'd meet that posh little blonde boy with the beautiful eyes, he'd been very distant then, hardly saying one word and constantly cautious of Ginny. She then remembered the next day when she'd found Draco with a wet face and he'd grinned at her for the first time. She remembered how he'd comforted her when she'd been upset and how he'd made it better by taking her flying himself. He'd introduced her to her new passion and she'd always be grateful for that. But then she'd remembered seeing his half naked body covered with deep bleeding wounds and tender purple bruises, she remembered how anger had wriggled its way through ever bone in her body, the angriest she'd ever been in her life and it was all over one person. But he was her best friend and of course she was going to have been mad that someone had made him feel pain, it was only natural. Ginny then thought about how many more wonderful years they'd spend as best friends…50?...60?...As long as they lived? Ginny hoped for the latter. She then drifted into a light slumber with thoughts and memories of Draco playing through her mind. 

Ginny woke to the cliché sound of a roster crowing outside. She sat up and yawned widely then smiled. She looked over to her calendar on the wall, 11th august, it was her birthday!

Ginny bounced out of bed and pulled open her door. "Wake up everyone, wake up! It's my Birthday, get up!" she shouted as she ran through the house and down the stairs. 

"Happy Birthday my dear, what would you like for breakfast? Anything you want, I'll make it." Molly asked smiling at her daughter.

Ginny beamed back "Pancakes of course!" 

Ginny sat down at the table just as her brother came bounding down the stairs. "Birthday cake!" shouted Fred. 

"He means Happy Birthday Gin-bug." Laughed George as he sat down opposite Ginny who scowled at the pet name.

Bill, Charlie and Ginny's farther gave her a hug and wished her a Happy Birthday. Molly dished out the pancakes and her hungry family devoured them in no time.

"Present time!" shouted Ginny excitedly. 

Ginny's mother appeared carrying a reasonably big pile of wrapped presents. Ginny opened them greedily whilst stopping to admire each one. 

She received the customary knitted jumper, a box of homemade fudge, two new dresses, a fairytale story book and a collection of muggle toys from her mother and father. She got given a goblin made silver necklace and a pair glittering slippers from her Aunt Muriel, who always had liked her more than her boisterous brothers. She was given a soft brown teddy bear with a satin bow and a jigsaw puzzle from two muggle sisters she'd made friends with in the town. Her grandmother and grandfather gave her book voucher for Flourish & Blotts and a distant muggle cousin of hers had given her an expensive set of colourful makeup, which her mother tutted at.

All-in-all she was very happy with her presents, then remembered something. Her brothers' present, they never forgot, so where was it? Ginny looked at her brothers expectantly and they grinned mischievously back before Bill pulled out a big box with peep holes in from under the table and pushed it towards her gently.

Ginny stared at the box curiously and heard a noise from inside it. Her eyes widened and she looked at her mother and father as though asking if it was safe to open. She received and affirmative nod from both of them.

Ginny gulped then stood up from her chair so she'd be able to see inside when it was open. She then cautiously lifted up one of the flaps and then the other. She pulled the box nearer and looked inside. What she saw made her squeal in delight and her hands made a beeline for the contents of the box, pulling out a tiny red fur ball with a white bow tied loosely around its neck. Ginny pulled the baby kitten into her waiting arms and stroked it gently whilst holding it as though it may break. The fluffy kitten looked up at its new owner with playful green eyes. Ginny was in love.

She thanked her brothers over and over again for their fantastic gift which she'd named Rum. Rum and Gin they'd be known as now, which made her brothers laugh hysterically for five minutes solid.

Ginny played with her new kitten nearly the whole morning and was starting to wonder whether she should have called him 'curious' because he certainly was that! The little thing was like an inquisitive child and was into everything. The toilet, the bin and he father's shoe were among some of the stranger things.

Later that morning Molly announced that dinner would be served outside because she wanted to take advantage of the nice weather; soon it would be raining all the time. The family agreed and so they all ate their curry and rice outside where the air was warm and the flies were everywhere, meaning Fred and George could host their annual How-Many-Flies-Can-You-Eat-Before-Mum-Finds-Out. They asked if Ginny was playing and she responded with a disgusted 'No' she was eight now! She was much too old to partake in such immature games. 

Ginny spend most of the afternoon wishing she could see Draco, she wanted to show him her new kitten, but would have to wait till the next day. 

Ginny's parents had promised her they could make smore's after tea and so Arthur magicked up some fire and a few dry logs for them to sit on around the fire. The night was spend stuffing their faces with burned marshmallows, singing songs and telling ghost stories. Ginny had a wonderful time and Draco was put from her mind for a few hours only to return again when the sun set and Molly announced that it was time for the children to go the bed, they, of course whined at this and the boys tried to barter themselves some more time. 

Ginny kissed her family goodnight and thanked them again for the wonderful day and the lovely presents. Speaking of presents, Rum seemed to be stuck to Ginny's side. Where ever she went so did he. Ginny found it cute and loved him even more for it. 

Ginny struggled into her pj's and climbed into bed whilst Rum curled up at the bottom of Ginny's bed. As Ginny started to drift of to sleep a tapping noise found its way into her ears. At first Ginny thought it was part of her dream but then it got louder and she was forced to open her eyes and look for the source…and found it.

A snow white owl was tapping its beak continuously off the glass of her window. She hurried to open the window and the bird angled its way inside. Ginny only then noticed the strangely shaped parcel it was carrying. It flew over to her bed post, seemingly not bothered by the hissing kitten that it had woken and whom was now sending the proud owl death glares. It stuck out its leg and Ginny untied the note, suddenly sleep seemed unimportant, she had received a letter and a parcel and Ginny was unexplainably excited to see who it was from. 

The owl left through the open window and Ginny unfolded the note gently as though making any sudden movements might set the note and parcel a light. 

The note read…

_Happy Birthday Ginny, I hope you had a wonderful day? Here is my gift to you, enjoy. _

_DM_

Ginny smiled at the brief note and put it down on her bed before moving over to investigate to gift. If it was from Draco than she already had a suspicion of what It may be, but didn't build her hopes up. 

Ginny unpeeled the first layer of brown paper and carried on pulling and ripping until her present was uncovered and her heart filled with joy. There on her bed sat a brand new, shiny, and very expensive broomstick. It was a Nimbus and a new model. Ginny was gob-smacked. Draco had given her, her first broomstick! She wanted to shout out with happiness but managed, just, to refrain. Instead she ran her hand over the wood then hid it under her bed; how could she explain such a thing to her family?

That night she slept with a smile on her face, her birthday had been a complete and utter success. 

Ginny was abruptly woken up the next morning by the sound of hushed voices outside her bedroom door. "Shh Mel, be quiet or you'll wake up the whole house." Ginny, despite her grogginess from having only woken up, instantly recognised the voice of her oldest brother Bill. Another, female voice replied to the first with a giggle. Ginny's curiosity got the better of her and she crept out of bed, tip-toed to her bedroom door, opened it and peered through the crack she had definitely not been expecting what she saw. There stood her brother, clad only a faded shirt and his boxers, eating the face of a pretty, blonde girl. Ginny gasped in shock and horror at the scene unfolding in front of her. What was her brother doing? Slobbering all over that poor girl's face is hardly hygienic and was probably very uncomfortable. Bill ceased his eating upon hearing the gasp and spun round quickly, meeting the confused eyes of his youngest sibling.

"That's horrible Bill!" Ginny almost shouted.

"Hush Ginny, be quiet or you'll wake Mum!" Bill said frantically before he turned back around and whispered something in the girl's ear. She nodded once, and then disappeared silently down the stairs and out the house.

"Why were you eating her face Bill?" asked Ginny sternly with her hands on her hips.

"Stop being so naïve Ginny! I wasn't eating her! I was kissing her!"

"Ew! Why? That's disgusting; I'm never, ever doing that!"

Bill ran his hand through his already messy hair, seriously not wanting to be having such a conversation with Ginny. He most definitely didn't want to be the one who told his eight-year-old sister about the birds and the bees.

"Look Ginny, maybe now you wouldn't want to kiss anyone but when you're older you will." Ginny wrinkled her nose in disgust and Bill continued, trying his best to put it in a way she would understand at such a tender age "When you like someone a lot you show them that you do by kissing them." Ginny was trying desperately to make heads or tails of this information in her head. She loved her Mum and Dad, but she would never kiss them like how Bill had kissed that girl. 

"I don't understand." She told him frowning.

Bill sighed deeply "What I'm saying Ginny, is that you'll have to kiss someone eventually, everyone does and after your first kiss it becomes easier, I promise. Now go back to bed and try to forget what you saw ok?" Ginny nodded her tired, confused head before hugging her brother goodnight.

The littlest redhead lay down on top of her bed, frowning. Was Bill telling the truth when he said she'd _have _to kiss someone one day? Or was he just trying to scare her? She'd liked to have thought he was lying to her. That way, none of it would be true and she wouldn't really have to do such a horrible thing as kissing a boy! But, what if Bill was telling the truth? Who would she kiss? She was sure there was no one she'd _like_ to kiss, but if she had to…she'd want it to be Draco. After all, apart from her brothers he was the only boy she knew and liked. But he'd never do such a thing with her. 

As soon as she saw Draco the next day she was going to tell him what Bill had told her and hopefully he'd tell her that her stupid big brother was a liar and that no, she would never have to kiss anyone. 

Ginny's body was telling her she was absolutely exhausted by yawning widely, but Ginny mind was far to preoccupied. She lay awake all that night worrying and hoping that Draco held some answers for her. 

**A/N: Please take two minutes of your time to review this chapter. Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Chapter three and the last chapter where Ginny and Draco are young, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.**

Ginny woke from her restless sleep and stumbled out of bed, Rum following behind her. She walked slowly across the hall to the family's shared bathroom only to find it was already being used by someone else. Ginny huffed and rested against the wall, preparing herself for a long wait. After a little while she started to bang on the door.

"Get out of there! I need to wash; I smell like Ron!" Shouted Ginny and a male voice chuckled from inside, before turning off the tap that had been running loudly.

Ginny was mortified to see Bill walk from the bathroom with a lazy grin on his face, her throat went dry as she remembered what she'd saw the night before and hoped and hoped she had been having a nightmare. But the look on Bill's face when he saw her own shocked and slightly scared face proved it had not been a dream. Ginny's feet were frozen to the ground and refused to move. She looked up at the person she knew to be her brother but he seemed different now, the brother she knew to be Bill was gone, replaced by someone else who did horrible, disgusting things like kissing a girl!

Bill looked down at her with eyes filled with pity for his little sister, who'd saw something she really shouldn't have, but now he was worried; What if she told their mother about Bill having a girl in the house? She'd skin him alive.

"About last night Ginny… don't tell Mum, please. She wouldn't understand." He said scratching the back of his neck nervously.

'_I _don't understand either!' Ginny screamed at him in her head, her mouth being unable to speak to the impostor who called himself her brother. She was only able to nod in reply.

Bill looked satisfied and shot her a small smile before turning and walking away. Only then was Ginny able to regain control of her legs and walk into the bathroom ready to wash and get ready for the day.

After finishing the breakfast she'd hardly touched Ginny ran upstairs and threw her new broom out the window, intending to pick it up outside; her family would surely see it if she waltzed right through the kitchen and out the door with it. She raced down the stairs and said a speedy 'Goodbye' to her family before picking up the previously mentioned broom and the set out on the short walk to her clearing, looking forward to seeing the friendly face of Draco.

Draco spotted Ginny through the trees and waved to her. She moved closer and he noticed she was carrying the new broom he'd given her.

"Hey Draco."

"Hi Ginny, did you have a good Birthday?"

"Oh yes! It was fantastic, thank you so much for my broomstick, it was such a wonderful surprise!" Ginny told him grinning down at one of her most prized possession.

"Sweet Merlin, what's that!" Draco shouted and Ginny looked to where he pointed and beamed brightly. She then walked over and picked up little Rum.

"Draco, meet Rum. He's my new kitten, I got him for my birthday isn't he beautiful!"

"Haha," laughed Draco "Gin and Rum…haha."

Ginny huffed, being sick of people making fun of the name.

"Sorry Ginny," Draco said sheepishly "I was only joking, it's a lovely name and the kitten's very cute." Ginny smiled and forgave him. "Now we can fly together, you on your broom and me on mine!"

Draco was so excited and Ginny rarely saw him like that, she wished she could respond more enthusiastically but her brothers words were still playing in her mind, preventing her from concentrating fully.

Draco noticed this lack of concentration; as he passed her the quaffle she didn't even notice it flying towards her and instead of landing in her ready hands it bounced off her head. The bump knocked Ginny from her daydream also affectively knocking her of her new broom.

Draco's eyes widened and he turned his broom in the direction of the rapidly falling girl. Draco sped up and caught Ginny with one arm. He let go of the breath he'd been holding and flew downwards.

He dropped Ginny lightly on the ground and stood in front of her with his hands on his hips, he was definitely not happy with her.

Ginny gulped and looked up at the enraged boy glaring down upon her. "What on earth happened up there?!" Ginny flinched at his loud voice, Draco sighed and sat down next to her "What's on your mind Ginny? Something's up with you I just know it."

Ginny looked at him and she knew right then that she could trust him. She took a deep breath before telling Draco everything she'd been told by Bill. His face never changed through the whole thing, Ginny couldn't tell how he was reacting to the information, and he hadn't seemed shocked at all by what she was saying, that made Ginny believe what Bill had told her was the truth and the dread that had been growing in her stomach ballooned until she felt it push and squirm against her insides.

The little girl stopped talking and waited with pleading eyes for Draco to contradict what Bill had said. But he didn't instead he said "I think he's right, everybody does it. It's gross but true."

Ginny felt herself sag in defeat, her brother had been proven correct. Draco saw how sad it was making her and told her not to worry about such things. "You don't need to even think about that right now you have years to wait before you have to kiss someone."

They picked up their barely used brooms and started to walk back across the field. "I know that! But one day I'll have to and it worries me! I'm scared Draco." Draco sighed and reached for her hand in a comforting way. She smiled gratefully whilst Draco tried to think up a solution. "I don't even know how to kiss! And no one would want to kiss me anyway, I wish I'd never saw my brother and that girl. I wish I'd just stayed in bed." Ginny was becoming hysterical and Draco needed to think fast.

"I'd kiss you!" Draco blurted out and Ginny froze "I don't mean now, I mean when we're older. You said that Bill told you the first kiss is hard and the then it gets better, well I'll be your first kiss and that way it'll be easy. I'm your best friend and I want to help."

Ginny started to regain control of her body and she looked up at Draco in disbelieve. He was willing to do that for her? He really was wonderful. Ginny needn't worry about her first kiss at all now.

"Really?" she whispered hopefully and Draco nodded firmly "Thank you so much! Do you promise? Promise me you'll be my first kiss please promise!"

"I promise that I Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of lord and lady Malfoy and heir of Malfoy Manor will be your first kiss. Now you don't need to worry and maybe tomorrow you'll be able to catch the quaffle." Draco joked, Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and Draco made snipping motions with his fingers earning a loud hearty laugh from Ginny.

Ginny slept soundly that night, having no worries to keep her awake. Draco was one in a million. Not many people would do such a thing for her. She'd always be grateful towards him for as long as she lived.

"Morning dear… come on get up Ginny your brothers have already left."

Ginny yawned widely and blocked the sunlight out of her eyes with her arm, whilst her mother wandered about her bedroom trying to find a matching pair of socks.

"I don't need socks Mum it's a lovely day; I'll wear my sandals."

Molly nodded and left the room after she gave her daughter a big smile. Ginny pulled on some baggy trousers and a white t-shirt and skipped across the hall to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and washed her hands and face.

When Ginny hopped down her stairs she saw only her father sitting at the kitchen table reading the Daily Prophet and sipping tea.

She joined him and only then noticed her growling stomach, apparently her mother had noticed to because she set down a full English breakfast in front of Ginny.

Twenty minutes later Ginny sat back in her seat, rubbing her full tummy dramatically. "I'm so full I could puke!"

Molly tutted at her daughter's gross language before shooing her out the door. "It's a marvellous day now go and make the most of it."

Ginny was only too happy to oblige. As she skipped down the path from her house to the forest memories of Draco flooded her mind…

"_I promise that I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of lord and lady Malfoy and heir of Malfoy Manor will be your first kiss…"_

…_Will be your first kiss…_

…_Will be your first kiss…_

…_Will be your first kiss…_

The words echoed in her mind and suddenly Ginny was extremely scared about seeing Draco again. The thought of what they'd one day do was making her full stomach churn in fear. Wait a minute! Wasn't Draco doing this so she would be afraid of her first kiss? He was doing it because he was her friend and wanted to help. Nothing had changed between them, if anything they friendship should have grown stronger after that promise.

Ginny then sucked in some air and told herself not to be so silly and just to act normal, nothing had changed, nothing had changed, she repeated the phrase in her head as she squeezed past the tree trunks to where Draco would be waiting for her.

Once he saw her appear he waved and Ginny waved enthusiastically back. She skipped over to a bush and pulled out her broom which she'd kept hidden inside of it.

"That was a good idea of mine wasn't it?" Draco asked smugly. Ginny rolled her eyes and linked her arm through his.

"Stop being so…" Ginny tried to find the right word "Draco-ish!"

Draco laughed and let himself be dragged away by Ginny.

The last two weeks of the summer were spent perfecting Ginny's flying and making sure she knew every Qudditch move possible. Ginny was coming home tired and hungry every night; the constant strenuous exercise made her tired and flying so much always made her build up an appetite, which Ginny's mum was only too happy to fill.

Ginny watched helplessly as Bill, Charlie and Percy packed some clothes into their suitcases, they weren't leaving until the next day and it was only early morning but their mother had insisted that the three boys pack soon so they wouldn't be rushing about last minute. Ginny hated her brothers going to Hogwarts and dreaded the year that they would all be gone for months, three brothers she could only just about handle but all six would be unbearable. Yes they annoyed her, yes they teased her and yes they left her out. But the all loved her and the house wouldn't be the same without their yelling, laughing and bickering.

"No stop it! Don't go, please don't! Take me with you, I want to go too!" she shouted and the water works started up.

Charlie sighed in aggravation, Percy shook his head in his proud, pompous manner, but Bill looked down on her with sorry eyes.

"I wish I could Gin-Bug but you know the rules; you have to be eleven, only a few more years and you'll be able to go." He told her soothingly.

"More then three years and by then you'll have left school! It's not fair! It's not fair! I wish I was older!"

"Oh be quiet Ginevra! You sound like a baby, act your age!" Percy shouted at her, she didn't really mind Percy going to Hogwarts, he always spoke to her as though he was much better.

Bill looked at Percy disapprovingly and kneeled down to hug his distressed sister. "Don't you listen to him Ginny. We'll be home in three months to spend Christmas here, it's really not had long, hang in there you'll be fine." He said quietly to her and she smiled her agreement, she could manage three months without them couldn't she? At least this year she had Draco…Oh no Draco! She was so, so, so late!

Ginny gasped out loud and her brothers gave her a questioning look. "I…er…erm…have to go…er... do something… BYE." She stuttered and backed out of the room, down her stairs and out the door quickly.

Ginny sprinted down the path and dashed through the tree's, praying he hadn't waited too long and decided to gave up. Luckily as the tree's thinned Ginny spotted him standing by the stream and a truly evil planned formulated in her mind whilst a cunning grin spread across her face.

Ginny was about five metres away from him and he still hadn't noticed she was there and so as quietly as her sandals allowed she walked nearer and nearer until she was sure that if she walked one more step he would hear her. So, grin still in place, she ran at Draco and jumped on his back.

"Arghhhh!!" he screamed and thrashed about, swinging his arms violently. He lost his balance and started to topple over moving his arms in wild circles comically as though trying to swim in the air, before he and the still attached red head fell side ways into the shallow stream.

They both sat up and Draco looked at Ginny in disbelieve, she just laughed in his face. He seemed angry but Ginny couldn't take him seriously while he sat in the stream with his hair plastered to his face and his clothes hanging with the weight of the water. Seeing the usually proud, rich boy dripping wet in a rather graceless position served only to make Ginny laugh harder. Draco's frown slowly turned upside down as he thought of the current situation, it was, if you could look past the soaking wet factor, quite humorous even he couldn't deny it. Soon the pair were laughing hysterically and uncontrollably.

They spent the next couple of hours splashing about in the water that came to just below their knees. They were already soaking wet from the fall so didn't worry about getting their clothes or hair wet, it was a hopeless case. Ginny would have fun trying to explain that one to her parents.

Ginny Weasley skipped through her front door and waddled into the kitchen leaving a trail of water behind her. She spotted her mother by the sink charming the dishes to wash themselves. Molly turned around ready to greet her daughter when she saw what a state Ginny was in.

"Sweet Merlin!" Ginny's mother nearly dropped her wand when she saw her and Ginny just looked up innocently. "Ginevra Molly Weasley what on earth happened?!"

"What do you mean mum?" she asked still smiling sweetly.

"You know exactly what I mean young lady, now explain!" Molly ordered.

"Oh that!" Ginny said as though she'd only just noticed she was dripping wet. "Well you see… I was walking down the path when someone tripped me up, I fell over and when I got back up I was in a dungeon, I managed to escape the dungeon on the back of a thestrel. But the thestrel got tired and dropped me in the ocean by accident. But it's ok! I got to ride on a dolphin and it brought me all the way home, and now here I am! Aren't you glad I'm save mum?"

Molly's eyes narrowed and Ginny took that as her cue to leave.

Meanwhile in Malfoy Manor, a soaking wet, shivering Draco walked through the main doors and skidded through the hall and into a suit of armour.

"Uh oh!" he whispered to himself as he heard someone come running. He tried to pick himself up of the marble floor but he kept slipping over again, it would have been comical if he hadn't have been trying to run from sure punishment.

"BOY!!" Bellowed a strong male voice as Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, rounded a corner. Draco shrank away in fear as memories of being beaten washed over him.

"H-Hello father."

"Get up!" Lucius ordered and Draco obeyed immediately. Lucius looked his son over, his eyes widened and he grimaced in disgust. "Just what have you been doing?" His father asked in a deadly calm voice.

"I…um…nothing father." Draco's heart was beating rapidly against his chest and he thought it a wonder his father hadn't seen it.

"Don't lie to me boy! I have ways of finding out, ways that you aren't familiar of." He hissed "_legilimens!"_

Draco froze in horror, having not heard that spell before to waited to feel It's affect, dreading the pain that would surely be coming for him. But no pain came, instead the room started to spin and spin until it was just a blur then it vanished completely. Images of his life past through his vision, it was his third birthday and he felt lonely, he first felt the pain of a crucio at his fathers hands, his mother was coming into his room to heal his wounds but his father caught her. The bad memories changed into happy ones, he met Ginny for the first time, he was grinning at her with a wet face, he was comforting her when she was crying, it changed and now he was looking down at his hand entwined with hers and that familiar happiness filled him up again, now he was flying again and this time he had two small arms wrapped around his waist and he once again felt joy swim inside him, him telling Ginny he wouldn't mind being a Ravenclaw, Ginny was healing the wounds his father had inflicted upon him, _"Do you love me Draco?"…"Yes"…_ _"I promise that I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of lord and lady Malfoy and heir of Malfoy Manor will be your first kiss…"_

"ENOUGH!" Bellowed Lucius and Draco felt something being pulled from his mind as the room came back into focus. Draco was once again on the floor. He looked up at the furious face of his father and knew that he had seen everything; his father had read his mind. Lucius' cool, calm face was now filled to the brim with, horror, shock, anger and disgust. "A Weasley!" he bellowed "You've been seeing a Weasley! How dare you!"

"I'm sorry father, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to see her." He whispered.

"She's filth Draco! A lowly common blood traitor just like her parents, how dare you embarrass this family! You are never to see her again, do you understand? Never!"

"But she's my best friend; I love her." He whispered to himself.

"_Crucio!" _Draco cried out in pain and thrashed about on the floor whilst his father looked down on him, not a flicker of mercy or guilt in his emotionless eyes. He didn't care that he'd caused his only son so much pain, the boy needed to be reprimanded, Draco would never see Ginny Weasley again if it meant he'd be cursed, Lucius was sure of it"No you don't love her, you just think you do." He told his son sternly, this was so like his father! Draco wasn't even able to decide for himself who he loved, he could only love who his father told him to.

"If I ever find out you've been to see that little brat again the punishment will be severe for _both_ of you, do you understand?"

Draco nodded his head in defeat and walked up the staircase to his quarters. Never see Ginny again! He was sure he would die! But his father's threat still rang clearly in his ears; severe for both of them, he was threatening Ginny also. Draco couldn't let his father hurt his only real friend, he'd never forgive himself. But he couldn't just stop seeing her without even saying goodbye, that too was unforgivable.

Draco sat on his giant four-poster bed and cried, he actually cried! For the first time in years. It felt wonderful, a release. Draco savoured each tear because it was as though each one was helping to wash away his troubles. But unfortunately they weren't and his problems would still be there in the morning.

Ginny sat on the kitchen bench and looked through the window with sad eyes. It was September the first and her brothers were outside with her father, leaving for kings cross. Ginny dreaded this day every year, she wasn't exactly sure why; it wasn't as if all her brothers were leaving her, but none the less it still made her feel sad and lonely. She imaged what it must be like for Draco who had no siblings, she couldn't it was impossible! Ginny couldn't imagine not having any brothers and wondered how Draco managed. Thinking of Draco, she thought she'd go to the clearing a little earlier, she didn't have anything better to do.

Ginny pulled on her coat; the weather was getting cooler now, and left the house with a shouted 'goodbye' to her mother.

Ginny took her time to walk down the path, she was early anyway. When she reached the clearing, she wasn't surprised to see that Draco wasn't there yet; he was nearly always on time, never early, never late, just right.

Draco had made a split second decision; he would go to see Ginny…one last time. He'd go to explain that he couldn't see her any more and then he'd leave, simple right? Easy! Then why was Draco feeling so depressed? This one little girl had changed this one little boy beyond anyone's belief and the thought of having to go back to the way he used to be was unnerving Draco. But he cared for Ginny too much to take the risk of his father finding out he was still seeing her. It was risky enough him going to explain but he hated the thought of Ginny thinking he had just forgotten about her.

And so here he was, walking through the dense forest to where he best friend would be waiting there for him…for the last time.

The trees started to thin and Draco spotted the clearing ahead and in it sat Ginny Weasley, chatting away to a squirrel who looked up at her curiously before scuttering off. Ginny looked disgruntled now she had no one to talk to and Draco thought he'd put her out of her misery by appearing through the trees.

Ginny beamed at him, stood up from where she sat and rushed over to give him a hug. Draco hung on to her longer than usual, savouring each moment, memorising them for when she wouldn't be with him.

Draco sat next to her and started to speak "I need to tell you something really important," She frowned but nodded for him to continue "I…it's just that…my father said…um…well…" he didn't know the best way to phrase it and was about to try again when he heard Ginny gasp in shock and her eyes widened dramatically.

Draco turned around to see what had shocked her and his jaw dropped. Lucius Malfoy, in all his furious glory stood between two trees, his wand raised.

"Run," Draco managed to whisper directing his speech at Ginny but never taking his eyes off his father "Go now! We'll see each other again…some day…but now you have to go, run, please!" he begged and Ginny stared between him and the opening between the trees as if deciding whether or not to do what he said. She looked back at Draco with tears of distress running down her flushed cheeks and gave him a quick hug before dashing off between the trees.

Draco watched as his best friend vanished from his sight…from his life.

**A/N pretty please review…it only takes a second, I hate comparing how many hits the story has with how many reviews It has, it's upsetting when I think that people don't think I deserve to know their opinion once they've read a chapter, so please, please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

CH 4

**A/N: Enjoy and read the author's note at the end! **

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot, everything/everyone you recognise belongs to the fabulous J.K.Rowling, I'm just playing in the world she created.

**Three years later…**

"Hurry children! The train leaves in three minutes, onto the platform now, come along!" shouted Molly Weasley as her rather large group of children jogged behind her.

Ginny Weasley would be starting her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and she was so happy she could sing, this was the day she'd been waiting for since long before she could remember, it had always been her dream; joining Hogwarts with her brothers.

Molly, Arthur, Bill and Charlie had accompanied the other five kids on the journey to kings cross and were now waving goodbye as the five kissed their mother and climbed onto the train.

Ginny found a spare compartment when her brothers made it very clear that they didn't want her tagging along with them, it bothered Ginny a bit, but she was used to it and refused to let anything dampen her mood. She swiftly put away her trunk and placed her beloved cat's carry-case on the chair, promising Rum she'd let him out to stretch later "Bye! Love you! See you soon!" she shouted out the window for her family to hear and they all responded, her mother was crying now and blowing dozens of kisses in the general direction of Ginny. Ginny pulled her head out of the window and chuckled to herself, she wasn't quite sure why but it didn't matter, she was deliriously happy.

"Oh, do you mind if we sit in here? Everywhere else is full." Asked an unfamiliar voice.

"Of course not!" replied Ginny immediately and the two new arrivals came in and sat down opposite her. She smiled at them and they smiled back. "I'm Ginny Weasley." She told them cheerfully.

"You must be Ron's sister?" he asked and Ginny nodded happily "I'm Neville Longbottom," Offered the boy, he was chubby, with a friendly face. "And this is Luna Lovegood." He told Ginny whilst gesturing to a daydreaming blonde girl wearing radishes for earrings and a necklace made of bottle caps. Ginny grinned at the strange girl and knew straight away that this was someone she could definitely become friends with.

"Are you first years? I am." Ginny asked the two of them, the question seemed to knock the girl out of her daydream and Luna smiled at Ginny as though she'd only just noticed she was there.

"No, we're second years." Neville told her smiling.

"Oh sorry, my bad, thought we were in the same year!"

"Maybe you swallowed a fergle, they mess with your head and make you see things differently. My father knows a charm to repel them, I could get him to cast in on you if you'd like, they can be bothersome." Luna said dreamily and Ginny suppressed the urge to laugh at the rubbish spurting from the older girl's mouth, Neville looked at her apologetically.

"Urm…no it's ok I'll manage thanks." Ginny told her cautiously but the girl just nodded.

"I'm going to buy something from the food trolley, would anyone like anything?" Ginny asked, looking for a response.

They both shook their heads "No thank you." And so Ginny took a few sickles from her money pouch and left the compartment.

The corridor had rows of doors that led to other compartments on either side of it and was completely deserted apart from a group of children further up where Ginny assumed the trolley must be, she walked along counting her money when she abruptly bumped into something hard.

"Watch where you're bloody going!" snarled the thing Ginny had walked into.

"S-sorry, I didn't…" Ginny looked up at the person and stopped mid sentence, mouth gaping open, words failed her. Grey eyes, dazzling, hypnotising, deadly familiar, grey eyes. Blonde hair, shiny, bright, smooth, blonde hair. Oh Merlin! Could it be?...

Red hair, too many feckles and hand-me-down robes, it could only be a Weasley. Merlin, those Weasleys bred like rats, oh wait… they _are_ rats. But this rat's a female and it's looking at me in a strange way. Oh god! Those eyes, beautiful, deep, familiar brown eyes. No way! Could it be...?

"Draco hurry up mate; the trolley will run out of cauldron cakes if we don't hurry!" shouted a voice that seemed far away, Ginny and Draco were lost each others eyes, soaking in everything about the other person, their other half. The differences, the changes and the familiarities. Three years! It had been three year since the two had last set eyes on each other and now as they stood watching the other they felt whole again as though a part of them that had been missing for so long had finally been returned to it's rightful place.

Draco stared closely, same eyes, they'd never changed. She was taller now, but only just, it seemed she'd gotten her mothers 'short gene' passed on to her, she only just came up to his chin. She'd lost a lot of her freckles or they'd faded with over the years at least. Her cheeks had hollowed slightly making her seem more sensible and older then the chubby-cheeked youth he'd once loved. Her hair had deepened in colour and was now far more red than orange. But still, the same mischief, cheerfulness and loving showed in her face…shone in her eyes.

Ginny watched as his eye roamed over her and took that as permission to look at him. He was much taller then what she remembered, a good head taller than her at least. His hair was the same shade of white/blonde but it had been slicked back and Ginny didn't like it one bit, it made him seem arrogant and full-of-himself, she wanted nothing more than to shove his head in a bucket of water and mess it up again. His face was thinner, it had lost its baby-ness, but they was no denying who he was, he was definitely, absolutely, positively Draco Malfoy.

Draco felt his heart break and swell at the same time. Oh how wonderful it was to see her again! But this was a Weasley blood-traitor, the very person he'd been trained to hate but also his first real friend, the only person who'd ever understood him as a young child and the one he'd been banned from ever seeing again, held by a threat that risked her and his own safety.

He was stronger now! He wouldn't let this girl get to him like how she had last time; no one would ever make him feel that vulnerable again.

She'd never forgotten, she'd thought about him constantly for three whole years, crying, wishing and hoping. Crying for her lost friend, wishing he'd come back to her and hoping he was safe and that she'd see him again one day. Did he remember her? Of course he did! That look in his eye…there it was again! A flicker of recognition. What would happen now? Would he leave her again? She was speechless and paralysed, she wanted to say something, anything! But she was rendered powerless. She could do nothing but stand and watch as Draco walked away from her.

Ginny forgot about her sweets and rushed back to her compartment. Why oh why hadn't she realised? Of course Draco would be here he was only a year older then her! She was happy he was here, of course she was, but she hadn't imagined their reunion to be like this. Hers had contained many more hugs and tears. He seemed so different; the old him would have smiled and hugged her close. But he frowned and stared, maybe he was just shocked? She had to see him again, to make sure he really was the Draco she knew and loved.

Ginny was being ushered into a small boat by a big, hairy man she knew to be Hagrid. She'd had to separate from her two new friends as they were second years and therefore travelling in carriages not boats. Another two girls, twins, hopped in Ginny's boat and introduced themselves as Bonnie and Taylor Prescott, they'd been raised in America but had English parents, those parents had wanted the twin to go to Hogwarts instead of the Salem institute and so they'd moved back to England.

The girls shared the same coloured hair, black, but Bonnie had green eyes whilst Taylor had black, Ginny thought the girls were very pretty and she got on well with them.

The three chatted away together most of the boat ride and only stopped when Hogwarts came in closer view. Shocked gasps sounded everywhere as the newbies looked up at the dazzlingly beautiful castle. It radiated mystery and each and every student was bubbling with excitement and/or nervousness.

They were met at the other end by a stern witch in blue robes who told the students her name was Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor house. She then led the group through the huge doors and stopped outside another pair of doors.

"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily, at Hogwarts your house will be like your family, your triumphs will earn house points while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup, a great honour. Once I've called your name walk over, sit down on the stool and place the sorting hat on your head. Do you all understand?" she received two dozen nods "Very well then, good luck."

And so it began, Ginny followed the long line of children through the doors and up the front of the room where stood a wooden stool with a scruffy, old wizards hat resting on top of it. The line stopped walking and Ginny took a moment to glance at the children in front and the few behind her, they all looked scared stiff, some were biting their lip or finger nails in a nervous sort of way whilst others were ghostly pale and looked as though they may pass out at any moment. Ginny couldn't understand them why were they so frightened? This was a happy day! Ginny shook her head in a confused manner and waited patiently until it was her turn.

These were the times she wished her surname wasn't Weasley, everything was always in alphabetically order, meaning she was always last! Jenny Wotts had just been sorted into Hufflepuff and now McGonagall was calling Ginny's name.

"Ginevra Weasley."

Ginny smiled brightly and walked briskly over to the stool, when she reached it she picked up the hat, sat down and placed it on her head.

"Ah ha! Another Weasley. My, my a girl this time? That was unexpected." Spoke a male voice in Ginny's head who she could only assume was the hat. "Let's see what we've got here…" Ginny felt a little uncomfortable having someone (something?) searching around in her head. Her thoughts were private!

"Well you certainly aren't like your brothers, that's for sure, much too clever, much too clever…" it muttered, more to itself than to Ginny. She was starting to get worried now, it had been ages and it still hadn't sorted her, what if it never sorted her? What if it just kept on muttering to itself forever.

"I'll tell you what... I'll give you the choice, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw?"

Ginny was shocked, did it usually give people the choice?

…_"I'd like to be in Ravenclaw but my family wants me to be in Gryffindor; everyone in my family has been placed in Gryffindor." …_

…"_Well I want to be in Slytherin. But I wouldn't mind being in Ravenclaw I suppose."… _

"_Hey! We can be in Ravenclaw together Draco."…_

Ginny looked out upon the four house tables and spotted Draco sitting at the Slytherin table and sighed, so he became a Slytherin after all. Ginny then noticed her brothers, clad in red, smiling and waving at her. Ginny made her decision and the hat knew without her saying anything…

"GRYFFINDOR!!" It bellowed and the whole Gryffindor table burst out in cheers of welcome, her brothers the loudest of all and Ginny knew; she'd made the right choice.

As she skipped down to her table she missed the sad, regretful look a certain blonde boy sent her way, he'd known the hat had given her a choice, he to had been given a choice, he'd picked Slytherin over Ravenclaw and had hoped Ginny wouldn't make the same mistake he had. He'd hoped she would have followed her dream but he'd been disappointed, the Ginny he'd known would never have gone with her head instead of her heart, _'I guess time changes everyone.'_

_Blood! Lots and lots of blood! Covering the ground, the trees, the sky. The very earth beneath her was beating in time with his heart. It was fast, rapid, as though his body and the world as one knew he didn't have long to live and so was trying to cram as many beats into the next few minutes as possible. Ginny felt dizzy with the constant movement of the ground and atmosphere; she ran, fast! _

_Through bushes that tried desperately to suck her into their depths, through trees had grabbed and scratched at her skin, causing fresh red blood to flood in between the parted flesh, but it mattered not; it mixed with the current smell of blood that lingered In the heavy air. The pain trying it's best to distract her from the dread that dwelled in her young heart._

_She was running out of time! She had to reach him before the inevitable happened, but every time he came in sight he was ripped away and she was left to try and find him again. But she wouldn't give up, she refused to give up! As young as she was Ginny knew the world was already polluted with quitters and she refused to join their rapidly growing group. If he couldn't trust her than whom could he trust? She wouldn't let him down she couldn't do that do him. She'd find, and save him or die trying._

"_Stupid, foolish, naïve little girl. You know not what you're doing! Meddling in things that you have no business meddling in! Leave now and I'll spare you, if you should stay you'll watch him die and then suffer your own death!" the voice boomed out of every particle surrounding her, as though it was actually speaking from inside the trees, rocks and clouds. _

_His threat lingered silently in the air but it wasn't enough to unnerve Ginny, she had one purpose and one purpose alone! Find and save him!_

_Ginny moved unsteadily closer the images in front of her wobblingly in and out of focus as the earth still pounded away the seconds till his death, the ultimate hour-glass. _

_Closer…Closer… a little more, that's it! _

_Ginny slammed her hands to her head as a shock of pain shot through it, "Give up… it's for the best. Give up and the pain will stop!" the voice said again only now it was in her head, inside her instead of around her. _

_Ginny willed the pain to go away and focused on something else to take her mind away from it "NO!! I will not!" Ginny screamed at it. The voice sighed and pulled away._

_Ginny carried on with her task of finding him. On she pushed as strong wind fought against her, trying with force to push her backwards. It whooshed through her hair and ruffled her clothes, but Ginny's will was stronger than that of the winds and it soon gave up, leaving her free to move on with her quest. _

"_ARGH!!" a tortured voice shouted, hoarse with previously unexpressed pain. A harsh, sadistic laugh followed the noise and Ginny's blood boiled. _

_She ran faster than her short legs allowed and ended up tripping over herself in a desperate effort to reach the tortured soul, and set it free. Without a second thought she jumped to her feet, wiped away a trickle a blood from above her eye and bounded towards where the scream had sounded. _

_Nearer…Nearer…That's it she was nearly there, she could smell it…the blood…the pain…the death._

"_No!!" Ginny screamed and jumped from behind the swaying trees. Lucius cackled evilly again and shot another curse at the wriggling boy that lay at his feet, his features were contorted and his limbs danced about in pain, but he refused to give the man the pleasure of hearing him scream again. Ginny admired his bravery and resilience until she was knocked from her reverie by a rogue tree branch, the ruby red sky crackled and banged as the elements took control and the last thing Ginny saw was his ghost white body lying next to hers, every drop of his blood being drained from his frail young body, before everything went black… _

Ginny woke from the nightmare suddenly, panting, sweating and thanking the Gods she hadn't screamed out loud, it was her first night with her dorm mates in her new dormitory, the last thing she wanted was for the new friends to think she was some sort of crazed psychopath.

Ginny decided what she needed was air and lots of it. She stuck a dressing gown on top of her cotton PJ's, stepped into her trainers and pulled out her old broom from under her four-poster bed, feeling around for it first as she didn't want to risk waking the girls by turning her light on, she found it after a second or two and proceeded to walk from her dormitory and out the cluttered common room.

It was her first night here at Hogwarts and she was already breaking school rules by being out after curfew, but had learnt from the best how to not get caught (Fred and George, Masters of mischief).

She slipped through the main oak doors, which she'd only recently been acquainted with, and sucked in the fresh, cool air, taking in as much as her small lungs allowed.

It calmed and cooled her instantly, as she'd known it would.

She jogged slowly past the lake to the Quidditch pitch and swung her leg over her precious broomstick, the broomstick that had been given to her long ago by a friend whom she cared for dearly, that friend had been the main component of her recent nightmare. She'd always had them for as long as she could remember, she'd only recently realised that the nightmares were caused by her thinking of Draco too much during the day. She worried about him endlessly, worried for his safety whilst he lived under his fathers rule. She could still remember the day he'd shown her the wounds his father had inflicted upon him as though it were yesterday. She supposed she'd have to get used to the nightmares whilst she stayed here at Hogwarts.

She soared higher in the air, longing for height, needing the adrenalin rush more than ever. She continued to work through a routine of Quidditch moves she'd taking to practicing, preparing for the next years Quidditch try-outs.

Though Draco had always been in the back of her mind since she was eight years old she'd managed to keep him there, at the back. Whilst her life took the front sit, Draco still had an affect on nearly everything she'd ever done however small.

Though she really should have moved on and forgotten him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, his memory became a part of who she was and now the real him was back the memory, previously having been pushed a side, took it's rightful place at the forefront of her mind and she could do nothing but think of him…breath him…life him.

An enraged Draco Malfoy stormed from the castle at top speed, his broom over his shoulder; needing to get away from the pushy, insistently whining people he called friends. They made him so mad sometimes that he just ran away to a quiet place and think of happier times, times when his soul wasn't tainted with dark magic his father had so 'charitably' bestowed upon him. Times spend with Ginny Weasley; he missed her even now, though he denied it, refused to admit he'd ever had feelings for her. She was the thing that had made his life worth living, but some times he found it hard to remember all the details, they'd been clouded over with lies and trickery that he was too young to have been subjected to.

Three years of his father drumming into his head that the whole Weasley family were filth had taking its toll and he often found himself confusing the truth with his fathers lies. He was his father's puppet, unable to do anything but watch and listen as Lucius taught him everything he'd ever need to become a dark wizard like him.

He was too young at the time to do anything about it and now, at twelve, he was wiser but it too late, he couldn't turn back time and change the way he had turned out. He was who he was, however bad that may be. He'd lost the shyness he'd once possessed and in its place rested confidence that was often confused for arrogance. Instead of listening to people as there spoke to him he demanded their attention. These, among many other changes were the making of the Malfoy people knew.

Things became all that more complicated when the littlest Weasley arrived at Hogwarts, the run in they'd had on the train had left his mind razing for hours, she'd definitely known who he was, that much was obvious, she hadn't forgotten over the years. He'd been so confused! Half of him was saying yell at the blood traitor, insult her and embarrass her. But the other half of him wanted to embrace her tightly and whisper how much he'd missed her. Each side was as strong as the other and in the end neither won out; he'd taken the easier option of walking away.

Now Draco was storming off in the direction of the Quidditch pitch, not bothering to stay quiet and discrete, he could get himself out of any trouble with one single order anyway. As he drew closer he noticed the speck of a flying person in the sky, it shocked him; he was the only person that went flying at a night time, almost everyone else feared getting caught. Draco walked nearer and climbed up the steps to the highest stand where he sat down and watched as the dot as it grew bigger. It came nearer and nearer until Draco could make out red hair and pale skin. His stomach did a back flip when he realised the person who rode her broom as though she'd been born to fly was actually his Ginny.

Draco watched closer as the Weasley girl preformed perfectly every move he'd taught her so many years ago. He felt something similar to pride as he saw how far she'd came with his help and her own natural ability. Grief washed over him as he remembered the hours spent riding through the sky with her arms wrapped around his waist…Draco pushed the memories away and scolded himself for dwelling on the past.

He ran from the stands and was gone with only a swish of his robes… Ginny was none the wiser.

"Oh no!" moaned Bonnie "We've got Potions first Ginny and if that weren't bad enough we've got it with the Slytherins!" Bonnie made a disgusted face and Ginny burst out laughing and reminded her that her twin was a Slytherin now. That had shocked both Ginny and Bonnie but Taylor seemed to know that Slytherin was where she belonged and Bonnie excepted it, though still made her wise cracks about what an awful house Slytherin was, especially if her sister was in ear shot.

"Ah come on Bonnie, Slytherins aren't that bad; you lived with one for eleven years!" Ginny reasoned.

"Never liked her!" joked Bonnie. Ginny laughed had the girl and made room for her brother who'd just appeared.

"Did I just hear you say you like Slytherins?" Asked an appalled Ron Weasley.

"I never said that… I said they aren't bad." Corrected Ginny.

"Well they are." Ron said before stuffing toast in his mouth "They're all slimly buggers, especially Malfoy, you stay away from that nasty git Ginny." Ron spoke whilst pointing at her with his fork.

Ginny's breath caught, did he know? Of course not, he couldn't know. Another thought hit Ginny, what had Draco done to make Ron hate him?

"So, what's wrong with this Malfoy Ron?" Ginny asked trying to play cool and not seem too interested.

"What's wrong with him? What's wrong with him?! Don't you mean what's right with him?! In fact don't ask that either!" Ron was getting very angry and very red whilst Ginny found it amusing, she was too busy wondering just how different this new Draco was, she couldn't imagine why anyone would hate Draco; he was such a likable person! Shy…yes, posh…yes, but likable.

"You'd better go Ginny; don't wanna give Snape a reason to give you detention." Laughed Harry and Ginny blushed, as she always did when he spoke or even looked at her, and nodded.

"Read pages 23-25 and complete the task on the board, I want silence! If I hear one word out of any of you I'll have you in detention faster then you can say 'spider legs' am I clear?" Snape asked the class, the thin lips twisting to form a sneer.

The class nodded silently and started the work that had been set for them. Ginny however couldn't concentrate properly having Draco sitting in such close proximity. All she wanted to do was walk over and hug him so tightly that they'd have to use a strong repelling spell to separate her from him, but somehow she didn't think he'd appreciate something like that. She'd wait, patiently, until the lesson was over and then she'd talk to him, she promised herself.

"Miss Weasley, please refrain from staring lovingly at my students, I believe your gazing is making Mr Malfoy nauseous." Teased Professor Snape, Ginny blushed, Malfoy turned around and smirked at her whilst the class laughed loudly. She looked up and met his eyes, even they were laughing at her. Ginny felt like crying, why wasn't he sticking up for her?

Draco watched as her eyes started to fill, he instantly felt guilty, he'd never made her cry, he was always there to comfort her when she cried, but she needed to know that he wasn't who he used to be, it would be a hard lesson but a necessary one.

"Mr Malfoy? I wish to speak to you, stay behind please." Snape asked in his monotone voice.

'_Perfect'_ Ginny thought to herself.

The class ended and Ginny shooed away her new friends, intending on waiting outside for Draco. She waited a few minutes and started to worry, if he didn't hurry up she'd be late for her next class. As though he'd heard what she'd been thinking Draco came walking out the door looking proud of himself. Then he saw Ginny standing there and his eyes widened, before he caught himself and resumed his cold, uncaring stance.

"Weasley." He said and nodded one before trying to walk away, he couldn't bring himself to actually be horrible to her but that didn't mean he had to be nice.

"Draco wait!" Draco stopped and closed his eyes, oh how he missed her calling his name. He mentally shook his himself before turning, smirk in place.

"Yes?"

Ginny stepped forward with pleading eyes, she bit her lip like she always did when she was nervous, Draco hadn't forgotten her little habits. "Do you remember?" she asked studying his face carefully.

"Remember what Weasley?" Draco asked, playing dumb.

"Me? Us?" she stepped closer again.

Draco had to turn away; she looked too cute, too young, too innocent. The years had been good to her. She, at least, was still a child. Whereas he, he'd been forced to grow up. "Of course I do." He whispered, still refusing to look at her.

Ginny sighed in relief and reached out to touch his arm. Draco jumped away from her touch "Don't." he told her looking up now. "It can't be like it was before Weasley, you realise that right?"

Ginny shook her head "Why not?" she asked stubbornly. Draco sighed and shook his head.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm a Malfoy and you're Weasley scum." He didn't say it as an insult he said it as though it was common knowledge.

"What's changed?!"

"Me! I've changed! You're so naïve sometimes, don't you understand? I can't even be seen with you!" he shouted at her "Go just go please, I'm my fathers son, I will do what is asked of me, blood is thicker than water Weasley."

"Your father is an evil man! He has ruined you! How can you say and do what he asks when he hits you and treats you horrible? I want my Draco back! And I want him now!" she stamped her foot in her temper and the tears were flooding her cheeks.

"He doesn't exist any more! Get that into your thick head! Do I have to spell it out for you?! I AM NOT THE SAME PERSON YOU USED TO KNOW!!" He yelled at her and she sobbed harder. Draco couldn't bear to see her like this anymore, knowing that he was the reason she was so upset. He turned and fled.

Ginny ran back to her dormitory and cried into her pillow completely forgetting about the rest of the mornings lessons.

"ARGH!!" Draco screamed, picked up the biggest, heaviest item within his reach and chucked it hard against the dormitory wall.

Blaise had entered the room in time to see Draco lose control "Hey it's alright mate, it wasn't as if that was some priceless family heirloom of mine or anything!" spoke the sarcastic voice of Draco's best friend Blaise Zabini.

Draco sighed and sat down on his bed. "Sorry mate." He muttered and fixed the stone bust with a flick of his wand, Blaise sat down next to him and folded his arms.

"They're never the same once they've been fixed." Pouted Blaise.

Draco wasn't listening, he was too busy fuming over how complicated his life had suddenly become.

"So care to tell me what's gotten you so wound up? It isn't Pansy again is it?" and they both shivered.

"No."

"Well then come on, what you waiting for an invitation? Tell me!" Blaise demanded.

"No."

"Tell me right now or I'll force truth potion down your neck!" Blaise threatened

"No, and bugger off."

"Fine if you want to play dirty..."

"You haven't the physical or mental ability to 'play dirty' with me Zabini and you know it so don't go throwing empty threats around…the might just get yourself hurt." Blaise mimicked what Draco had said in a high pitched voice.

Draco sighed and shook his head in disbelieve at his friends childishness. "Blaise if you have nothing else to say I'd appreciate it if you could remove your sarcastic ass from my bed, before I blow you up." Draco told him calmly but his hand was very near is wand and Blaise didn't want to take any chances when Draco was in this type of mood; he stood up and left the room, telling himself he'd find out what was up with Draco later tonight.

**A/N: Well that was the first of the chapters where they are a little older, how was it? I was trying to make Draco seem less innocent whilst making Ginny stay as innocent as possible for the time being, was I successful? I hope so. **

**Also I'm only writing about Ginny's first year at Hogwarts and Draco's second, so they'll still be young and I'm trying to include some romance later, one thing which I'm finding difficult with them being only eleven/twelve but that's about the time when people have their first kiss right? Anyway thank you to all the lovely reviewers out there and to all the people who are too lazy to review; I still appreciate that you've taking time out of your day to read my fic, but reviews aren't just lovely they're helpful and motivating as well remember that! You don't have to write a whole essay or anything, in fact you could just rate it out of ten if that's easier or you just don't have anything to say.**

**THANK YOU!! And until next time…**


	5. Chapter 5

CH 5

**A/N: I'm really truly sorry about the mistake I made on the last chapter. And thank you to the people who pointed out that yes, Ginny wouldn't be in Draco's potions class, I'm really sorry and I'll be sure not to make any more stupid mistakes like that. I'm also really sorry about the long wait but my computer has been out of action and I haven't been able to get on the internet to post this, sorry! Now that I'm done with the endless apologies…enjoy… **

CH 5

_Blood! His blood… everywhere. On her hands, on her clothes, in her mouth! She ran towards his dying body and cradled his limp form in her arms, praying and begging that someone would save him._

"_Save him! Please! Someone save him!" she yelled as her bloodstained cheeks became soaked in painfully familiar tears. _

_She felt that thing prodding at her mind once more, the prodding that she associated with the evil Lucius. "No!" she yelled, trying to push the man from her mind, the last thing she'd wanted was someone telling her she couldn't save him. But the thing was to strong, the pressure too much…_

"_You can do this Ginevra!" a voice reassured her in her mind, Ginny wasn't use to this new, warm, comforting voice and she gave into it completely, letting it take her over, fill her up and complete the hole that had been dwelling in her, with hope and promise. "It's not as hard as it seems, don't give up! No matter what any one says, you are strong! Fight for what you believe! For what you want!" Ginny nodded her head in agreement and the voice faded, knowing it had done its job. _

"_Don't give up…don't give up…don't give up…" its words repeated themselves in her mind and she found comfort in those words, to know that someone else thought she was capable was such a welcomed relief. _

Ginny woke up from her nightmare feeling strangely happy for once. Her dreams had always meant something. She was she of it. The death and torture the dreams always consisted of were her fears, her fears at first had been that she'd never see him again. Now they were that they'd never be friends again and also the obvious; that Lucius was hurting him like she knew he did.

The evil voice of Lucius that she always heard in her head, telling her it was hopeless, that he would die and so would she, were her doubts, the doubts she refused to acknowledge but knew were there. Betraying her and slowing her down from achieving her ultimate goal.

But the new voice she'd heard had giving her a sense of security, even if it was only herself telling herself that she had the power to do it. She'd known she'd had the ability to do it but the voice had been her weakness, the part of her that always contradicted what she knew to be right. But now the voice was agreeing with her for the first time in her life and that give her the most wonderful of feelings; to know that even the most pessimistic of things was on her side.

"Should we wake her up?"

"I say we should leave her, she's weird."

"Yeah your right, lets let her sleep in and get detention!"

"No she isn't weird she's lovely, you leave her alone Pricilla!"

"She isn't a bit weird, I'm the weird one!"

"Exactly! Now you five move aside and let me wake her up!"

Ginny had of course been awake and had heard the whole conversation. What the first girls had said did upset her a bit but she'd learned to ignore things that upset her and instead think about her good qualities. When her real friends had stuck up for her she'd felt so happy, she did have friends here!

Pricilla and her two followers were the height of cool among the first years and none of them had ever liked Ginny enough to say one nice word to her.

Pricilla had fashionably cut blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and permanently glossy, pink lips. She was pretty but in a forced way; she tried hard to look as good as she did and it showed. Cindy was stick thin with straight, shoulder length brown hair and sharp features. She never smiled, only sneered and her nose pointed upwards in a way that made her look snooty. But not everything about her was awful, she did have very pretty, piercing, green eyes had she was extremely vain over. The last girl Lybella was by far the prettiest in Ginny's opinion; she had curly, black hair and amber eyes that gave off the impression of molten gold. She was petite and very quiet; most people hadn't even heard her speak but there were rumours circulating that claimed her to be the master-mind behind all the threesomes' mischief and rule-breaking, which they never got caught doing meaning all the teachers simply thought them to be harmless, gossiping little girls and that's how they liked it.

Nuala McNeil, a strange, chatty, but friendly muggle-born girl shook Ginny's arm gently and Ginny pretended to wake up groggily, she yawned widely and looked up at her friend.

"Morning, what time is it?"

"About twenty past eight."

Ginny shot out of bed, pushed Pricilla and her cronies out the way and rushed about the room trying to find her school clothes.

"That Prissy's a right one isn't she?" asked Nuala, Ginny was walking down to breakfast with her and Bonnie.

"She's bitchy and a total gossip whore." Stated Bonnie

"Yeah and you know what I think?" asked Nuala.

"What?"

"I think we need to show her who's boss!" answered Nuala whist shaking her fist in a threaten manner.

Ginny laughed "How exactly do you plan to do that?"

"I dunno." She shrugged "Swap her shampoo with bleach? Start an embarrassing rumour? Tell Snape she fancies him? Charm some flies so they'll always follow her around?"

"That last one's a good one! People will think she smells!" Bonnie laughed out loud at the idea.

"That's a horrible thing to do!" Ginny cried.

"Of course it isn't! She deserves it!" Nuala replied.

"Come on you two." Ginny said "stop planning and plotting against her, I'm sure she's not that bad if you got to know her." She insisted

"But who would _want_ to get to know her?!" Nuala asked before making a disgusted face.

"Yeah, come off it Ginny, she's a nasty piece of work and you know it! There's absolutely no hope for her." Bonnie told them in a sorrowful voice that was so obviously fake; she wasn't sorry for Pricilla at all. Nuala started laughing but Ginny just tutted, she refused to admit that they was 'no hope' for the girl; there's good in everybody, it's just up to other people to find it.

"How was your day Gin?" Ron asked over dinner.

"Full of rubbish lessons only made bearable by the meals in between." Answered Nuala.

"I didn't ask you." Ron told her bluntly, he didn't approve of Ginny's choice in friends. Nuala looked at him indignantly before flicking a pea at his head, which missed, landing in his pumpkin juice instead.

"Ron! Be nice to my friends please." Ginny told him sternly. "I had a good day thank you."

"Come on Ginny lets go I'm not happy with the current company we're keeping." Nuala snarled, aiming her statement at Ron.

Ginny rolled her eyes and shot Ron an apologetic look before leaving with Nuala.

The pair was just walking up the corridor towards the Fat Lady portrait when Ginny gasped and stopped dead in her tracks. Nuala turned around with a questioning gaze.

"I left my bag in the Great Hall!" Ginny answered.

"Well…Go get it!" Nuala replied, as though it was the most obvious thing to do and when Ginny thought about it…it was.

She nodded at Nuala, spun around and jogged down the corridor.

As she rounded a corner she spotted the blonde that had been occupying her mind so much lately. She remembered the breakthrough she'd had with her dreams and decided that now was too much of a good opportunity to pass up. He was alone and she was ready to give it another go, not planning on ever giving up, just as her dream-self never planned to give up.

He walked with he's eyes focused on the wall but she knew he had seen her. She sped up and stopped dead in front of him, he was forced to look that her. "Do you mind moving?" he asked his voice not portraying any emotion, not even discomfort with the situation.

"I'm not moving till you've talked to me." She told him stubbornly before putting her hands on her hips so he knew she meant business. Time hadn't fogged up his memory _that_ much and he knew right away that she wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted.

"Then don't move I'll walk around you." Draco made to walk around and Ginny side stepped, affectively blocking him again. "I thought you weren't moving." He said smirking. She wanted to smack that smirk right of his arrogant face but would never hit something so perfect.

"Do you still love me?" she blurted out and couldn't seem to stop "Do you miss me? Do you have dreams about me? Don't you ever wish that it could go back to the way it was?"

"It doesn't matter what wish or want." He answered vaguely but Ginny understood; he was his father's puppet.

"You have to stop doing what your father thinks is best and start doing what you think is best. I miss you so much; don't you miss how it used to be? When we were best friends and didn't care about what anyone thought. You must remember, you must!"

"STOP IT!" he yelled at her "Just stop talking as though you know me! You haven't got a clue! I've grown up since you last knew me, I'm not the same person and I'm getting tired of having to repeat that to you! We can never be friends Weasley, never." He told her seriously, finally looking into her eyes, this was really what he believed; Ginny could see that he really thought they could never be friendly towards each other. It cut her, but she was not about to let that stop her.

"Why? Because your parents told you that? You're listening to a couple of Death Eaters instead of the person who you used to trust above everyone else?!" she shouted at him. Clearly this wasn't the cleverest of things to say. Draco's face was rapidly turning red.

"What did you say?" he snarled deathly quietly and didn't wait for an answer he grabbed hold of the tops of her arms and slammed her hard against the stone wall. "Don't you dare insult my mother ever again, do you hear me?!" he yelled at her before shaking her violently.

Ginny was scared silly; this was an entirely different Draco that she wished never to encounter again. She nodded her head quickly and he dropped her to the floor.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here?!"

Ginny and Draco turned their heads to the side swiftly and saw an angry professor McGonagall storming over to them. Draco masked his shock and offered Ginny his hand. She stared at it bewilderedly before throwing caution to the winds and taking hold of it. Her hand was as soft as ever and Draco relished the feeling of her skin touching his again.

…_Ginny didn't need to drag him now but she didn't let go of him. Draco looked down at her hand gripped tightly around his own, he felt happiness swell inside of him and his white cheeks coloured dramatically… …They kept walking at a regular speed and Ginny chatted away to Draco like she always did, unfazed by his hand holding hers… …Draco chanced a peek at her face and saw her smiling straight ahead with her lips moving to form every word coming out of her little pink lips, her cheeks were rosy from the warm summer breeze and her big, brown eyes were shining with excitement. At that moment Draco thought she was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen…_

…_Once she was sited on the broom she wrapped her arms instinctively around Draco's waist, Draco stared down at her arms in shock, a familiar happiness filling him up as he felt her cheek resting on his back… _

"Well? Answer me!" she asked now she was nearer them.

"Weasley tripped over and I was merely helping her up." Draco replied as calmly as ever and Ginny looked at him in shock at how he could lie to a teacher so easily.

"Well Miss Weasley is that true?" McGonagall asked seeming as though she highly doubted that a Malfoy would offer help to a Weasley, there must have been something more sinister going on.

Ginny looked at Draco who looked impassive.

Ginny made a split second decision "Yes…yes that's true."

McGonagall didn't look convinced but let it go anyway. "Be careful!" she warned "Mr Malfoy might not be here to help you next time."

McGonagall left after that and Ginny was left alone with Draco again. Since before then she'd never felt scared of him, in fact quite the opposite; she always felt very safe. But now she couldn't decide whether or not to be frightened of her ex-friend.

Draco looked at her and opened his mouth before thinking better of whatever he was going to say and closed it again.

Seconds passed and still neither made a move to leave. Ginny had defended him, backed him up even when he'd only just hurt her; she could feel the bruises forming on her upper arms where he'd grabbed her and on her back where she'd hit the wall. It came down to loyalty, even though they weren't friends, they had been at one point, meaning there would always be something between them, Ginny understood that and acted on impulse, the impulse to protect.

"Well that was rude!" Draco said suddenly Ginny looked up at him questioningly "I didn't even get any house points for helping you!" and with that he left, leaving behind a confused and slightly scandalised Ginny. What a very Draco-ish thing to say!

Draco walked around the corner and burst out laughing before he realised that he probably _shouldn't_ have said that. He maybe _should_ have apologised and thanked her for not telling her head of year the truth, but how could he? He was a Malfoy after all; she should expect him to act in such ways. If he had done the right thing then why was he feeling so guilty? Guilt! Such a horrible emotion no wonder his father was glad he didn't feel any remorse for his bad deeds, it was uncomfortable and made Draco feel weak. That damn girl had done it again! She'd made him feel things that he really wished he wouldn't, natural human feelings but still highly unnecessary and annoying.

The Slytherin common room was packed full to the brim with noisy, irritating first years that still hadn't learnt the ways of a Slytherin, moody fourth years, haughty, intimating seventh years and everything in between. Draco sighed deeply, gone were the days when the house of Salazar Slytherin was a proud place to be. His father had told him stories of when he had been at Hogwarts; the entirety of Slytherin would get together at least once a week to plan and plot against other lesser students and 'good' teachers, the common room would have been packed full of ancient, dark artefacts and books containing the darkest of black magic. Each student would carry themselves with honour and dignity. None of this running around and shouting, those stupid, immature first years would have been eaten alive; then again, the sorting hat would never have put them in Slytherin in the first place. Decent dark wizards were so hard to come by and Draco was sure that these days if someone picked their nose the hat would put them in Slytherin, it was ridiculous!

He pushed past the people making sure to shove as hard as possible and snarl as fiercely as possible. He reached his dorm and ordered all his room mates out; he needed to be alone to organise his thoughts. The Slytherins obeyed immediately; not daring to back-chat him, they feared his power, Draco Malfoy had more power in his baby toe then the rest of those wanna-be Slytherins had put together, except Blaise of course, Blaise was a Slytherin through-and-through and possessed almost as much power as Draco did.

Draco cast a charm on the door and sat down on an armchair.

The guilt and regret that had been manifesting inside him had sprung to live, ripping away his skin and bones in an attempt to escape its cage. Draco groaned in annoyance, he was so mixed up; he'd always been so sure of himself! But this one girl had shown up after years and turned his life upside down.

He needed to do something to rid himself of this aching remorse. A verbal apology? No that would completely ruin the reputation he'd spend so long in building. But a private apology, a letter maybe? That could work.

Draco pulled out a piece of parchment, a bottle of green ink and an exquisite, expensive looking quill. Being slightly paranoid; he replaced the charm on the door with a more advanced locking charm, he definitely didn't want anyone walking in and finding him writing an apology letter to the littlest weasel.

Satisfied that he was completely safe from prying eyes he started his letter…

_Dear Ginevra _

_I'm writing to apologise for my actions this afternoon. It was inexcusable and totally barbaric. I'd like you to know that this has never and will never happen again, I can assure you of that. I hope the injuries aren't extensive. _

_I would also like to thank you for your discretion. It was very kind of you and I appreciate it. _

_Yours truly,_

_Draco Lucius Malfoy,_

_Son of Lord and Lady Malfoy, _

_And heir of Malfoy Manor._

It had took Draco an hour and a half to have finished that letter and he still didn't like it; it was much to formal and he didn't think she'd appreciate such formalities. She still thought of him as the shy, seven-year-old boy she'd once known, but he wasn't, not anymore. Youth is innocence but not for Draco, he'd been subjected to too much pain to count as innocent. Ginny had aged three years while Draco had aged decades. He understood why she was so persistent, he would be to, but she just wouldn't or couldn't understand that things aren't as simple as they were all those years ago. The black and white way of life that she was used to can have many shades of grey. Under no circumstances could they ever be friends! It would be the death of him…literally.

He was about to get ready to sneak down to send his letter when the last three sentences he'd written caught his eye…

"_Hello, I am Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of Lord and Lady Malfoy and heir of Malfoy manor." Draco repeated what his parents had told him to say if anyone should ask who he was… …"I fail to see what is so funny about my name."… …"I'm sorry Draco," Ginny said. "Do you want to pick flowers with me?"_

Draco sighed at the memory before sitting back down and throwing the letter into the blazing flames, watching as the fire lapped over it and the parchment curled into a spiral of black ashes. He couldn't do it, it was too hard. Whenever he did anything had involved her, even thinking of her, a long forgotten (or hidden) memory came back, raging a war with his strong mind in order to find its place at the forefront.

Draco rested his tired head on his pillow for a second, intending on finishing some homework before going to sleep, apparently his body had other idea's and he was asleep in a minute.

"Urgh! Do we have to Pricilla?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I'm positive now stop whining. It's perfect, we get what we want, we stay out of trouble and we get her _in_ trouble."

Pricilla and her two friends, Cindy and Lybella, had only recently finished arguing over whether Pricilla's plan was a good one. It would soon be put to the test as the three gossips saw Ginny Weasley wake up and step out of her bed, ready to start the day.

"Hey Ginny!" shouted Pricella, who was most obviously the leader out of the three. She waved Ginny over to them and Ginny came, albeit a bit cautiously. "Would you sit by us at lunch today please?" Pricella asked sweetly whilst the other two smiled innocently.

"Erm…" Ginny was slightly shocked at this turn of events; the girls had never showed her any attention unless it was to insult her. "...ok then." Ginny then turned and walked into the bathroom.

"Step one…successful." Whispered Pricilla and the three grinned madly.

"So why the sudden change of heart? I mean I thought you three hated me." Ginny asked whilst shovelling down spoonful's of mash potatoes.

"We just felt guilty about being so horrible, we want to make it up to you, and what better way then to become friends, I mean only if you want to?" answered Pricella, only half masking her horror at how 'unlady-like' Ginny was eating.

"Of course I want to, that's a great idea!"

"Excellent! Well how about we all meet up in the Common room tonight after lessons to finish some homework?"

"Yeah ok, see you all then, bye!" Ginny answered before leaving the table and setting off for Transfiguration.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall told the class of first years sitting in front of her "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

The professor then changed a chair into a panda; the whole class was impressed and raring to go. They were slightly disappointed to hear that they wouldn't be changing things into animals for a long time and had to be content with changing matchsticks into needles.

The rest of the afternoon passed fairly quickly and before Ginny noticed the last lesson of the day, History of Magic, was almost over and Ginny would soon be meeting up with Pricilla and her friends in the common room. She decided to still be careful around them as this sudden change was quite suspicious, but not too careful; she didn't want to push them away.

Ginny pulled her bag onto her shoulder just as the bell went and Professor Binn's dismissed them.

Ginny, Nuala and Bonnie walked back up to their Common room arm-in-arm.

"Oh Hi Ginny!" Shouted Pricilla, Nuala and Bonnie looked at each other as if to say 'What-the-Hell!' "Come on Ginny ditch those weirdoes's and come and join us." She told Ginny whilst flicking her blonde hair and winking at a random boy who passed by them

Nuala and Bonnie turned around and looked at Ginny. "Well I did promise that I'd meet up with them here after classes…" Nuala put her hand on her hip and clicked her tongue whilst Bonnie shook her head in disbelief.

"Excuse us…" said Bonnie before her and Nuala dragged Ginny over to the other end of the room.

"What in the name of Merlin's saggy arse are you doing?!" Nuala shouted.

"Let me spell this out for you Ginevra Weasley because I think you must have been confunded or something…that is P-r-i-c-i-l-l-a." Bonnie said very slowly "evil, cunning, nasty bitch who should have been a Slytherin!"

"I've told you! I'm sure she's really not as bad as what you two make her out to be! I just want to give her a chance, is it so much to ask for my best friends to trust my judgement just once?!" Ginny said in a pathetic attempt at convincing them.

"Fine, you no what? FINE!" Nuala shouted whilst throwing her arms in the air "I gave up!"

"Just don't say we didn't warn you, she's nothing but trouble and the other two aren't much better." And with that the two of them walked away leaving Ginny feeling slightly guilty.

She looked over past the red armchairs and spotted Pricilla waving her over. Was she really as bad as the other two made out? She didn't seem it, she seemed friendly, but she could just be a good actress.

Ginny waved back and started to walk over to them. She got nearer and noticed the girls were working on what looked to be potions homework. "Hi, what you guys doing, homework?" Ginny asked friendly.

"Of course not! This is a list of instructions and ingredients."

"For what?" Ginny asked curiously; they were friends now, which gave Ginny a right to be nosey!

Pricilla looked at Ginny and smirked "A Love Potion." She whispered. Ginny gasped then grinned.

"And who exactly is the focus of this particular potion?" Ginny asked still grinning, she knew they were against school rules but they always seemed romantic, in their own way.

"…Harry Potter."

Ginny's eyes widened, her grin dropped form her face, her face coloured and she gulped. Harry Potter? Oh no, she couldn't! Ever since she'd heard her younger brothers talking about him she'd been intrigued and when she'd since him at Kings Cross she'd 'Fell In Love' ok, so maybe that's exaggerating at bit, but she certainly had a strong crush on him. She'd been trying to get him to notice her, but when he did, she blushed, became mute and tried to find the nearest escape route.

The girls were looking at Ginny smugly and Ginny had a sneaky suspicion they knew about her (obvious) crush on The-Boy-Who-Lived. She smiled weakly "Erm…ok." she croaked before coughing and trying again now redder than ever "Ok than, do you need any help?" she offered.

The girls grinned harder and suddenly Ginny felt worried. "Well…you see there are a few ingredients we still need and maybe later you could help us find them?" Pricella asked. 'That isn't so bad' Ginny thought.

"Yeah ok."

"Great. We have to potion boiling upstairs, it should be done by tomorrow we can give him it then." And Ginny nodded, not trusting herself to speak. What would Ron, Harry's best friend, say if he knew Ginny was helping some trouble-makers brew a potion that would make Harry fall in love with one of them, Ginny only had one question now, which one?

"That's it Cindy one more turn clock-wise then Lybella can add the Beetle eyes and it's finished until we can get the Mermaid scales." Pricilla told her friends whilst giving Cindy and Lybella a little nod, as if to signal something.

"Mermaid scales? Aren't they really rare?" Ginny asked.

Pricilla nodded "But it's the main ingredient, the potions useless with out them." Pricilla then walked over to the other end of the dorm room, beside the door leading to their bathroom and signalled for Ginny to follow her. She did and Pricilla looked other at Cindy and Lybella nervously before looking back at Ginny and whispering "Will you come out the common room with me for a moment?" she asked biting the inside of her glossy lips.

She looked scared and Ginny felt sorry for her "Of course." the pair walked outside and Ginny missed the wink Pricilla sent her cronies.

"So what's wrong Pricilla? Why are we here?" Asked Ginny whilst trying to warm her hands from the cooling air of the dungeons.

"You know the Mermaid scales we need right?" she asked, still looking scared. Ginny nodded and she continued "Well, I promised the other two that I'd get them it. You see it's them who want to give Harry the potion, they're obsessed! They black-mailed me into helping them and I've got no way out. They want those Mermaid scales and they want them tonight. The only place Hogwarts keeps them is in Snapes private store cupboard." She paused to see Ginny's face, she was wide-eyed and her mouth hung open, but she didn't seem as though she thought Pricilla was lying. "But you see… Oh no!...this is so embarrassing!...I-I'm scared of the potions room." Pricilla hide her face with her hands but continued speaking. "I had an accident in there once and ever since I've ever been able to stay in there long before I scream in fear. But I really, really need them scales. I'd need to be really quiet and I know I wouldn't be able to do it." Pricilla let out a sob before sinking to the floor, crying into her arms.

Ginny had never seen Pricilla act so distressed and her heart went out to her. She'd never pictured Cindy and Lybella as the black-mailing type, if anyone she'd have thought it would have been Pricilla who would do such a thing. Ginny too sank to the floor and wrapped an arm around the shaking girl. "Shh…don't cry Pricilla; it's alright you don't have to go in the potions room, I'll do it…I'll get the scales for you." Ginny told her quietly, Pricilla looked up at her and smiled weakly and Ginny was to busy thinking to notice they were no tears in her eyes.

Ginny scolded herself for getting herself into such a situation, why did she feel like she would regret doing this? Oh yeah! That's because she was about to break into a teachers personal storage cupboard, breaking about a thousand school rules in the process, not only that but this cupboard happened to belong to the nastiest Professor in the whole school. Sweet Merlin she hoped Pricilla appreciated this.

Pricilla had given her a key that would magically open the cupboard door for her and Ginny now had that key secured safely in her pocket and was tip-toeing through the seemingly deserted classroom and over to the constantly locked storage cupboard that only Snape, and maybe Dumbledore, had the authority to open.

She was breathing heavily and trying her hardest not to think about the punishment she would surly receive should she be found snooping around the professors stores.

It was fairly dark in the room and Ginny could just make out the cupboard because of the faint green light. She walked quietly and slowly over to the store cupboard, looked around her and inserted the glowing key into the lock. She turned it slowly and it clicked softly, she jumped at the noise and froze waiting to hear footsteps coming for her, but she could hear nothing and so continued with her task. '_Lumos' _ she whispered and her wand tip light up, showing her the contents of the private store cupboard that she'd just unlocked.

Her eyes scanned the bottles and boxes, searching for the mermaid scales, trying to remember what they looked like by picturing the book she'd read on them in her mind, but she couldn't find anything labelled 'mermaid scales'. She checked along the rows again praying she'd find some soon so she could get out of there.

Ginny nearly jumped out of her skin in shock when she heard a raised voice. "THEIF, THEIF! IN THE POTIONS CLASS ROOM! THEIF!!..." Ginny gasped loudly and felt something churn inside of her when she realised the raised voice belong to the blonde girl she'd recently befriended. How could she? Ginny was doing this for her! Why would she do that?!

Ginny slammed the cupboard doors shut and groped around for her wand that she'd dropped in shock just seconds before. She had to get out of there before Pricilla's shouting roused the attention of a teacher. Her hand closed around the thin piece of wood and she jumped to her feet before getting ready to run.

"Good evening Miss Weasley, care to explain what you're doing in my _private _store cupboard?"

**A/N: BUSTED!!** **Sorry for the cliffy but I just **_**had**_** to. Review after you read please even if it's just to say Good/Bad/OK, thank you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Next chapter… oh and it may seem like it's the end of the story but I assure you, it isn't. **

**ENJOY AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Potter related; it's all the exclusive property of the one and only J. K. Rowling.**

"Erm...Hello Professor Snape." Ginny spoke quietly whilst looking at the floor in shame. She'd been caught, but what was worse was that Pricilla, the girl she had done all this for, had ratted her out.

"Answer the question Miss Weasley." Snarled Snape.

"She was merely getting some ingredients for my potion professor; you did tell me I could use your supplies, did you not?"

Both Ginny and Snape gasped slightly at hearing Malfoy. Ginny had thought the room to be deserted and because of the poor lighting she hadn't noticed the smirking face of Draco Malfoy standing by a desk brewing a potion for extra credit.

"Yes, yes I did." Said Snape grudgingly "But next time Mr Malfoy, I'd appreciate it if you could get the ingredients yourself, with Weasley sneaking around my store cupboard people may get the wrong idea, as Miss Ludan obviously did."

"Of course Professor, it won't happen again Sir." Draco promised.

"Good, see that it doesn't. You're both done here, you may leave." Snape told them before walking over to check his store cupboard.

Malfoy packed up his things whilst Ginny waited outside for him, that was a very kind thing for him to have done and she needed to thank him.

"There was no need to wait for me Weasley; I'm perfectly capable of walking to my common room alone." He sneered.

"I know that!" she insisted "I wanted to thank you for covering for me." They started to walk now.

"You're welcome. Though it would be interesting to know what such a good little girl like you was doing stealing from a professor…" He told her raising an eyebrow, it wasn't just a general statement, Ginny understood that he wanted her to explain to him why she'd been there, and she owned him that.

She sighed and started to explain how Pricilla and her two cronies had wanted to become her friend even though they had hated her since the first time they'd met, how they'd told her about the Love potion they were brewing, how Pricilla had took her down to the dungeons and told her that her friends were blackmailing her into getting an ingredient but she was scared of the potions classroom. Ginny than told him how she'd offered to get it and the rest he knew.

Draco listened through the whole thing and she was cruelly reminded of him as an eight-year-old and how he used to enjoy listening to anything she had to say.

When she was finished Draco shook his head in disbelief, Ginny thought that he too couldn't understand why Pricilla would do what she had.

"I know! I can't understand why she would do such a thing either; I was risking a lot to get her those Mermaid scales."

Draco sighed in aggravation "You always were so naïve." He muttered and it shocked Ginny, every time they'd seen each other after the meeting on the train he'd always avoided talking about the past if he could help it yet here he was comparing her to her old self, she would have thought more on this topic, like how this may mean he was ready to befriend her again, but she was too curious to hear if Draco held the answers. "She set you up!" he told her and Ginny furrowed her brow in confusion causing Draco to sigh again "this was her plan all along, earn your trust, which isn't hard might I add, then get you in trouble for her own sick pleasure, it was so obvious Weasley, how you didn't spot it earlier I'll never know!"

Suddenly Ginny understood, of course! But why? She'd thought Pricilla had liked her! But it had all been an act? Ginny felt horrible and embarrassed about the whole thing, what an awful trick!

Draco saw Ginny go red and couldn't suppress a smirk. "Thanks." She whispered then smiled brightly as thought hit her "Hey! You did something nice! You stopped me being in trouble, this must mean you still like me!" she almost shouted.

"No." he told her bluntly

"But…then why-"

"I didn't do it because I'm your friend."

"Then why did you." She asked her bottom lip started to wobble as she felt tears come again.

"Because Weasley, I will not be in the debt of someone like you." After that he turned and left. Ginny was left standing by the entrance to the Slytherin Common room trying to understand what he'd meant, debt? What on earth could he owe her? And then she understood, she had told McGonagall that he was helping her, not hurting her, she sagged in defeat, he didn't do it because he loved her; he done it because he hated the idea of owing her something.

Ginny ran back to her common room, holding back tears of disappointment and frustration. She spoke the password to a confused Fat lady who'd only ever seen Ginny happy and laughing, before running past all the people in the common room, up the stairs and flung herself onto her bed, crying onto her bed sheets.

"Why must he be so stubborn!" she complained even though all her dorm mates were downstairs meaning she was alone and talking to no one "I'm trying my hardest, I really am!"

The night breeze flew through the open window and onto Ginny who shivered at the sensation as it cooled her wet cheeks. She walked unsteadily over to the window and breathed in the cold air, relishing in its natural purity. She wanted more; Ginny picked up her old broomstick and walked out of the dormitory, people in the common room didn't question where she was going at such a late hour, there were all used to seeing her run out of the common room with her broomstick.

She passed through the corridors uninterrupted and was soon outside and part of nature once more. She didn't wait until she reached the Qudditch pitch to fly; instead she mounted her broom and kicked off from the ground willing the wind to fly away with her problems.

&

Meanwhile, in Draco's dormitory, Draco was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He certainly felt better now that he didn't owe Ginny Weasley anything, but was he really free from debt? Did he really owe her nothing? If he was being entirely truthful with himself, he owed her a hell of a lot, but of course he was never usually truthful to himself and therefore, in his own mind, he owed her nothing. But even now as he lay on his bed, thinking, he felt guilty still. Wasn't guilt supposed to disappear when a debt had been repaid? Maybe he was feeling guilty about making her cry? Hurting her feelings? Disappointing her again? He wished there was a way in which he could keep both her and his father happy, but he couldn't, therefore he had to do what he'd been taught and that was to treat the Weasleys as the scum that they are.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Draco chose to ignore the knocking. "Open the door Draco it's my Dormitory too! You can't just lock yourself in here when you're feeling sulky, now open this - "

"Oh shut your face Blaise." and with a swish of his wand the door was unlocked and Blaise Zabini was able to enter.

"So, what's got your expensive silk knickers in a twist this time eh?" Blaise asked casually after sitting down on the edge of Draco bed.

Draco sat up and crossed his arms "Who the hell do you think you are?! An agony Aunt?! A witch doctor?! You can't help me and my problems have nothing to do with you anyway, so bugger off!"

"Ah Draco you always were a lovely child, I can always count on you to cheer me up with your friendly ways!" Blaise spoke sarcastically and Draco pursed his lips in annoyance.

"Just get out Blaise; I can't be bothered with your crap right now."

"No I don't think I will, I have just as much right as you do to be here. Maybe you can boss the other lads around but not me, no sir I don't take orders from anyone…" right then the fire in the fireplace glowed green and out stepped a troubled yet glamorous Mrs Malfoy.

"Blaise dear I'd like a private conversation with my son, you don't mind do you?"

"'cause not Mrs Malfoy." Blaise replied straight away before scurrying out of the room.

Draco lay back down chuckling in a sinister sort of way. Narcissa swooped down and laid a kiss on her son's cheek. "Draco darling, you're unhappy." She stated.

"No mother I'm fine."

"I know when my boy is lying to me Draco, call it… mothers intuition." She said with a wave of her hand. She sat down in the place Blaise had previously vacated. "Come now Draco, what is troubling you?"

"Why must people insist on sticking their noises where they aren't wanted? How I am feeling is _my _business! It's none of your concern mother, nor is it Blaise's."

"We care about you, we are worried, Blaise especially..."

"Ah so he is the reason you have come today." Draco said sitting up. "What lies has Blaise been feeding you mother?"

Narcissa sighed slightly before responding "Blaise wrote to me yesterday saying he was concerned for your well-being, he tells me that ever since you've started second year you've been troubled, you've been distant towards everyone, even him and there hasn't been a week gone by where you haven't stormed up to your dormitory demanding solitude. This isn't like you Draco, yes you've always enjoyed your own company but never to this extent."

Draco was growing more irritated by the second and Blaise would pay for this. "Yes, there is something going on at the minute but it's nothing I can't deal with I assure you."

Narcissa looked at Draco with eyes filled with pity. "Let me help you Draco, no one needs to know." By no one Draco knew she meant his father, who disapproved of the relationship Draco had with his mother. Draco had always been closer to her than to his father, yet Lucius had been the one who'd taught him everything he knew. Draco was sure he could trust his mother with his biggest and best kept secret but wasn't sure whether he could trust himself to retell it.

After his father had found out about Ginny through legilimency Draco had learned to take control of his mind in order to stop people from reading his thoughts in the future. His father, although annoyed that he no longer had access to his son's mind, thought it a useful ability to have and therefore encouraged Draco to harness this ability further and become an even better occlumens.

Lucius had demanded that Draco told no one of his brief friendship with the Weasley girl and he himself never told a soul, not even his own wife Narcissa and Draco understood that by telling his mother about Ginny he was likely betraying his father. But looking into the face of one of the only two people who had ever helped him made him want to tell her, to let her know that he was grateful for all the times she's protected and healed him. Without her he wouldn't be alive.

Draco swallowed and began to retell the tale that had long been hidden; he allowed the memories to flood his mind, to overcome him with details he'd long forgotten.

Narcissa sat holding Draco's hand with her head bent in concentration as her son told her of the happiest and saddest times of his life. Draco struggled with mixed emotions as he talked and talked until his throat went dry and every memory had been soaked in by Narcissa until she was so full that tears ran from her wise, blue eyes and her hand became sweaty as it held onto Draco's.

Draco finished talking and was promptly wrapped in the arms of his mother. They sat there for a while just hugging one and other. Draco could feel his mothers tears soaking his ropes and he thought again about the things he'd just confided in her, Draco's eyes filled with salty tears that he'd never let fall since the day he'd been ripped away from his best friend. But today was a good enough excuse to let them fall and so he did, he cried and cried and cried until he was sure if he cried anymore he'd keel over from dehydration.

Narcissa conjured up two handkerchiefs and offered one to Draco who took it with a small smile of thanks. Once the tears had been dried his mother began to speak.

"Go to her Draco." Draco looked up, startled "Apologise and ask her to be your friend once more, neither of you deserved that and it's high time such a perfect pair were reunited." Narcissa said in a determined voice.

"That's all well and good mother but it's not that simple."

"And why not? You still love her do you not? And from what I've heard she feels the same, so why can't you carry on from where you left off, what's stopping you?"

"Father." Draco replied simply.

Narcissa looked disheartened for a split second before smiling again. "Even your father can't stop something so right, you were lucky to have her three years ago, she gave you the help you needed whether you knew it or not, she gave you childhood memories that you deserved more off and what's more…she sounds like loads of fun, that's what you need in your live Draco some fun."

"Fun doesn't get you anywhere; hard work does." Draco replied and Narcissa sighed.

"That's not what you believe it's what you've been taught to believe. Now I won't hear another word contrary to it, you go and find that girl before it's too late and she gives up on you. Let _me_ worry about your father." Draco thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, ok, I will. Thank you mother." He said smiling. "For everything."

"Anytime darling, now go, I don't care how late it is, if anyone stops you tell them to speak with me." Draco nodded, pulled on his coat and ran from his dormitory. He sped from the common room, knocking over a few sneaking first years in the process.

He hadn't felt this giddy in years, he was about to get the reunion he should have had. But then he stopped dead in his tracks. Where would she be at this time? In her dormitory fast asleep would be where any other normal girl would be. But Ginny was hardly normal and Draco, knowing how she thought, had an idea where she may be. And so he carried on flying through corridor's like a madman until he spotted the main doors ahead of him and slowed down for fear of crashing into them.

He pulled open one oak door and slid through the gap, once through he started running again, not even giving a second glance to a boy named Oliver Wood who he'd just pushed over in an attempt to reach the Quidditch pitch sooner rather than later.

Sure enough once Draco reached his destination he spotted a little red dot whizzing through the sky. Draco sat down on the ground and admired how graceful she looked in the air, nothing like the extraordinary yet clumsy flyer he'd taught, at this he wondered just how much she'd changed, how much he'd missed.

Eventually Ginny started to fly towards the ground and hopped off her broom. Draco stood from his spot on the ground, waiting for her to come nearer.

Now they were only ten metres away and Ginny had recognised him, she stopped moving and furrowed her brow as though wondering what he was doing here. Draco continued to move forwards and she copied.

"Draco?" she asked cautiously.

Draco smiled brightly "Hello Gin, long time no see eh?"

Her mouth fell open in shock, before she realised that this was how it was supposed to be. Her Draco was standing there smiling at her the way he used to and now he was opening his arms to make room for her as she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly, wanting to hold on to him as hard as possible in case he should slip away from her again.

He clung on to her just as tightly, savouring each second, breathing her in, that familiar scent he'd once took for granted. He squeezed his eyes shut, biting back tears and took deep breaths, but instead of air he got a mouth full of Ginny's hair. He blew it out of the way and started to laugh.

The sound vibrated through Ginny's head and caused her to laugh as well. Ginny looked up, still locked in Draco's embrace, and met his eyes. They were unguarded, happy and shining with youth, they sucked her in, put her under a spell and she was irreversibly changed because of them, because of him. She had her best friend back once more and life would be good.

Draco looked down at the girl in his arms and met her joyful gaze. She stared intensely into his eyes and his in-turn, bored into hers. Searching, begging to find the girl he'd once loved and lost. And he found her, smiling at him in the way he'd grown so accustomed to, this was the girl who so boldly started the friendship had that clung to Draco's heart all these years, refusing to disappear or be forgotten, this was the girl who'd sat with him every day in that fateful clearing reciting stories and tales of her life, family and dreams, this was the girl who'd hung on his every word as he'd taught her to fly a broomstick for the first time, this was the girl who had soothed and healed his aching wounds, both the physical and the mental scars that his father had carved into his body and soul, this was the girl who had changed his life forever, this was his girl, his Ginny.

**Review? Please? -smiles sweetly and flutters eyelashes at the lovely readers who then click the little button and send her a review for looking so cute and sounding so convincing- Ok back to reality but reviews would be nice!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The night sky was as black as ebony, but bright because of the stars that shone among it. The breeze was chilled and the threat of winter hung tangibly in the night air. The grounds of Hogwarts were still, silent, asleep…

"AGH!!" a girl with hair as bright as the stars shrieked with glee as a silver-haired youth chased the girl around a tree, he dived at her and the pair ended up in a laughing muddle of limbs on the solid, grassy ground. The two seemed out of place in the calm environment they were so crudely disrupting, as boisterous and joyful as the world was quiet and peaceful.

The two children charged through the grounds, unaware that what they were doing was, against the rules, highly unorthodox and down right strange. The pair couldn't have cared less at that point. They had more then three years of catching up to do and why wait until the morning, when the earth awoke and the sun rose? Instead they chose to, selfishly, disturb the sleeping Hogwarts as it rested, preparing itself for the next morning and the hundreds of screaming kids that would, no doubt, be let lose.

"I missed you Draco." Ginny admitted as they jogged around the lake.

"Not as much as I missed you." He told her smiling.

Ginny took another look at her best friend and noticed again how much his appearance had changed and once again she felt the need duck Draco's head in a bucket of water in order to get rid of that ruddy hair gel he insisted on smothering his hair in. She let her eyes wander to the lake and a sly smirk spread across her young face.

"Draco..." she whispered, beckoning him closer with her finger, he bent lower to hear would she would say, Ginny opened with mouth as if to speak but then her lips formed a huge grin and Draco felt her hands push hard on his chest. The force of her shove caused him to topple backwards and into the dark water of the lake.

Draco's head broke the surface of the water and his face donned a scandalised expression. That Ginny Weasley hadn't changed one bit, he mused to himself.

"Ginny you're crazy! Don't you know there's a giant squid that lives in this lake, do you want me to be eating alive?!" he yelled through the chattering of his teeth. He knew the squid was harmless really.

"Stop being a sissy!" she shouted to himself before diving in herself. She resurfaced and splashed her way over to him.

"Any particular reason why you pushed me to my death or did you just feel like it?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Don't be silly, of course I had a reason." She answered before disappearing under the water and reappearing again behind Draco. She reached out and ruffled Draco soaked hair with both hands as though she was lathering shampoo.

Draco was puzzled and didn't refrain from telling her so "You're frightening me do you know that?"

"I pushed you in the lake because I couldn't bear to look at you with your hair glued to your head like that, it's awful, stop doing it or I'll make pushing you into the lake a daily thing, understand?"

Draco laughed hard at what he was hearing but nodded his, now gel free, head to say he understood.

Draco pulled his wrist out from under the water to check the time, but apparently his watch wasn't water resistant, of all the things wizards could do they couldn't put a simple water proof charm on a watch?!

Draco spun around planning on complaining to Ginny about it but instead he noticed her chattering teeth and her lips that were rapidly turning blue.

"Come on Gin; let's get of here before we both die of pneumonia." Draco exaggerated and Ginny laughed. They both swam their way to the edge of the lake and stepped out onto the solid ground.

They were both hit by the cool breeze and it chilled them further. Draco remembered the last time Ginny had pushed him in water and instead of cringing at the memory he grinned…

"_Arghhhh!!" he screamed and thrashed about, swinging his arms violently. He lost his balance and started to topple over moving his arms in wild circles comically as though trying to swim in the air, before he and the still attached red head fell side ways into the shallow stream … They both sat up and Draco looked at Ginny in disbelieve, she just laughed in his face …_ _Draco's frown slowly turned upside down as he thought of the current situation, it was, if you could look past the soaking wet factor, quite humorous even he couldn't deny it. Soon the pair were laughing hysterically and uncontrollably …_ _They spent the next couple of hours splashing about in the water that came to just below their knees. They were already soaking wet from the fall so didn't worry about getting their clothes or hair wet, it was a hopeless case …_

"What're you smiling at?" demanded Ginny.

Draco smirked at her "I was just remembering when you pushed me in that stream all those years ago."

Ginny thought for a moment then grinned as she remembered the day but then her expression became grim "That was the day your father found out about us wasn't it?" she asked, sitting down on the cool grass, teeth still chattering.

Draco joined her "Yeah, the day before I came to tell you I could never see you again."

"I still came the next day, to the clearing I mean. Just to check."

"I knew you would." Draco admitted.

"…and the next day and the next."

"Oh Ginny, it would have been best for you to have forgotten about me." He told her softly.

"Don't be silly! Never! And you don't really wish I'd just forgotten about you either, who do you think your kidding?" she asked grinning and Draco couldn't help but grin back, he seemed to be doing that a lot that night.

They stayed silent for a while the only noise were coming form the Ginny's chattering teeth. "Here, let me dry you." He said before pulling out his wand and speaking a spell that made Ginny feel suddenly dry and warm, Draco repeated the spell on himself and Ginny thanked him.

"I saw you flying." He stated

Ginny smiled "And…?"

"And I thought you were brilliant, you've certainly came along way from when I'd taught you."

Ginny tried not to blush at the compliment "Too bad they never let first years play for the house team though."

"With the exception of precious Potter of course." Draco stated with a sneer.

"Leave him alone he's an excellent flyer and fully deserved to be allowed on the team early!" she said almost shouting.

"Why are you sticking up for that git?! Do you like him?" Draco demanded.

Ginny was slightly angry about Draco insulting Harry "Yes actually I do! He's a good friend of Ron's and he stayed with us over the summer."

Draco was silently seething; he glared out across the lake making a mental note to curse Potter the next time he saw him.

Ginny looked nervously at Draco, hoping she hadn't upset him to much, why was he even upset in the first place? What's it to him if she happened to like Harry a bit...? Ok, a lot? Unless…

"Draco Malfoy are you jealous?" she asked unable to hold back a smirk.

"Don't be stupid, why would _I_ be jealous of someone like _him_?" he demanded suddenly feeling rather hot and he was sure he was blushing. Ginny wasn't believing a word of it she just sat there smirk with her eyebrows raised in disbelief. "OK fine, maybe I am. But not of him personally just of you liking him!" he told her angrily and she looked satisfied while he was even more embarrassed.

She leaned closer "Draco?" he turned his head to meet her eyes "Don't be jealous of me liking Harry, you're my best friend and I'll always love you." She stated and Draco visibly relaxed. He nodded his head and hugged her tightly.

The sun was starting to rise now and everything was suddenly becoming lighter. "We should probably head back inside you know?" Draco told Ginny uncertainly.

She huffed but nodded her agreement none the less. "When can I see you again, I'm guessing we should probably keep our friendship private?" she asked.

Draco was thankful she'd brought that topic up and not forced him to do so; he wasn't sure how she would react if he'd told her he didn't want everyone to know about them. It wasn't had he was ashamed to be her friend, far from it! He just didn't want his father to find out about it and drag them apart again. His mother had told him not to worry about his father, that she would sort it out but there was only so much she could do.

"Yes that would probably be for the best." He said cautiously and she nodded grimly.

"When can we meet up next?" she asked as she stood from the ground and started to make her way back to the old castle, Draco in tow.

"How about this afternoon, in the library? There's loads of little corners that no one ever sits in, I'm sure we wouldn't be disturbed, we could even to some homework." He suggested and she wrinkled her nose in disgust at the 'homework' suggestion but agreed that the library would be a good place to meet.

"Besides, no one 'cept Hermione even visits the library unless they really have to." Ginny said smiling.

They both chatted about random things as they walked across the entrance hall, three years without speaking meant there had a lot to talk about but were forced to say goodbye as Draco needed to go downstairs, to the dungeons, and Ginny needed to go upstairs, to the Gryffindor tower.

"See you soon Draco!" she whispered loudly before dashing up the stairs, keeping sure to stay in the shadows, it was early hours of the morning and she was sure no one would yet be awake but still didn't want to risk being caught out of bed at that time. Though even if she was she was sure she could make up some tale of needing to visit the nurse or maybe she had sleep walked? That could work if the teacher was gullible enough; she just prayed she didn't run into Professor McGonagall, that old hag would never accept any of her excuses.

It turned out that Ginny needn't have worried about making up any stories after all; she made it to her deserted common room and up to her dormitory without meeting anyone and was free to pull of her clothes, slip on a night shirt and crawl into her soft bed.

That night Ginny Weasley slept peacefully, without one trace of a nightmare.

"Hey! You there, wait!" shouted an unfamiliar voice.

Ginny spun around and looked for the source of the disturbance, she and two of her friends were on their way down a corridor heading towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

A rather muscular boy of about fifteen come running towards Ginny and stopped in front of her panting slightly.

"A word please?" he asked and she nodded, puzzled by what he could wanted. She told her friends to go ahead without her and she fell into step with the boy.

"It's Oliver Wood by the way," He told her, she'd never heard of him so was still puzzled as to why he wanted to talk with her. "I happened to see you flying last night."

'_Uh oh'_ she thought to herself _'Busted!'_ was he here to tell her she was in trouble for being outside after curfew?

"Please don't tell anyone I was out after curfew! Please don't, I won't do it again I promise!" she begged him but he only laughed.

"Don't be silly I'm not going to rat you out, I myself have sneaked out on a night to fly, the experience is always better when everything is peaceful and dark don't you think?" he asked smiling.

She nodded "Then if you're not here to tell me off why are you here?" she asked a bit more relaxed now but still curious.

"You might not know but I'm captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and I found your flying last night to be amazing, you're very talented." He told her seriously. Ginny's heart started to beat fast and she was too shocked to even bother to blush at the compliment she'd just received "I'd like to offer you a place as Chaser on the Gryffindor team, the chaser I'd had picked out after the try-outs has moved school and I'm in desperate need of a replacement, I think you'd be an asset to the team and I strongly erge you to accept."

Ginny was rendered speechless for a moment "B-but… I'm…I'm only a first year." she told him regretfully.

"Dumbledore has made exceptions to the rule before and will do it again, I assure you now would you like to play for your house or not?" he asked.

"Well, YES, yes of course I would!"

"Excellent practice is on Tuesday and Friday nights." He told her "See you then." After that he turned a corner and Ginny carried on walking down the corridor with a spring in her step, she was on the team! This was unbelievable! Wait until she told Draco, he'd be so happy for her!

"You're kidding!" Cried Bonnie as she dropped a few rat tails into the potion currently bubbling on the desk she was sharing with Ginny, Ginny had just recited the whole conversation she'd had with Oliver Wood.

"Quiet down!" shouted Professor Snape in the direction of Bonnie and Ginny.

Bonnie spun 'round and made a very rude hand gesture aimed a Snape who she'd never liked very much, luckily his back was turned. Ginny sighed and shook her head but everyone else sniggered quietly.

"Sweet Merlin Ginny this is wonderful news!" she squealed.

"Miss Prescott!..." Snape shouted.

"You're gonna be playing alongside Harry!" she squealed again ignoring the Potions professor.

"Miss Prescott!..." Snape shouted again.

"You're gonna be great! Gryffindor will win all their matches with you on the team!" she squealed once more.

"MISS PRESCOTT!!"

"WHAT?!" Bonnie, only to late, realised she'd just shouted at her potions master

"Detention tomorrow evening, 7:00 pm, don't be late!"

"Yes Sev." She whispered.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"I said 'yes Sir'" she replied sweetly as the rest of the class tried desperately to hold in their laughter; they wouldn't put it past Snape to give the whole class detention.

"…and then she was like 'Yes Sev' and the whole class was absolutely dying to laugh!" Once again Nuala was telling everyone with ears how Bonnie had earned herself a detention from the dungeon bat. Ginny was growing utterly bored with the tale now and wanted nothing more than for dinner to hurry up and end so she could sneak off to the library, meet Draco and tell him all about how she'd made it on to the Gryffindor team.

Soon the plates had been wiped of all food and Professor Dumbledore was announcing that dinner was over and the students were free to leave.

Ginny bolted out of her sit, making up some excuse to get away and was soon hurdling down corridors until she finally reached the library. She walked in, receiving a scrutinising glare from Madame Pince in the process. She jogged quickly around a towering bookcase and found Draco sitting at a table carving doodles into the wood of the table.

She sneaked up on him and whispered "Don't let Madame Pince catch you doing that, she'll blow a fuse." Joked Ginny while Draco jumped at the shock and tried, discretely, to cover what he'd been carving.

Ginny sat down opposite him and pulled out her books. "Guess what?" she asked.

"What?"

"I've been asked to play as chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!" she squealed in delight.

"Shh!" demanded Madame Pince from behind a row of bookcases.

"Sorry!" Ginny whispered.

Draco's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" he asked hardly believing his ears.

"Yup, Oliver Wood, the captain, asked me this morning before breakfast, he said he'd saw me flying last night and thought I was quite good." Well that was an understatement, he'd thought she had been amazing but Ginny didn't want to seem arrogant.

Draco laughed, remembering the fifth year he'd knocked over last night in his attempt to reach Ginny as quickly as possible, so that's where he'd been? The Quidditch pitch spying on Ginny. "I'm so pleased for you Ginny! I just wish you were playing for Slytherin not Gryffindor, we're gonna get slaughtered when the Gryffindor/Slytherin match comes along." Ginny blushed slightly at his compliment. "I'm playing this year, did you know?"

Ginny gasped "No! I didn't, oh brilliant; I'll be playing you soon." She said grinning.

"Yeah, first match of the season I think, sure you're ready to take me on Ginny I must warn you I'm an excellent player." He said, as modest as ever. "Don't worry too much, you won't have to deal with me as much a dear old Potter will," Ginny gave him a questioning look "I play Seeker." He explained and she understood.

"Well then you don't stand a chance, Harry's the best Seeker Gryffindor's ever had." Ginny said protecting Harry.

"Mustn't have had many decent Seekers." He joked and she scowled "Don't fret Ginny I know you like Harry so I promise to leave him in once peace after the match." He joked and she couldn't help but laugh along.

The rest of the evening Ginny spent in the library with Draco, neither of them wanting to part. Draco helped Ginny with her homework, he having already done the same work the year before.

As the evening drew to a close Madame Pince was now threatening them and so the pair, reluctantly left the library.

Draco needed to turn left whilst Ginny needed to turn right, Draco looked about suspiciously before enveloping Ginny in a tight hug that she was only too happy to return, it had certainly been too long since they'd hugged like this. Neither wanted to let go but agreed that it was getting late and they both needed to return to they dormitories. They pulled apart and made arrangement to meet on again the next day, before Ginny realised the next day was Tuesday meaning she had Quidditch practice and they couldn't meet on Wednesday because _Draco _had Quidditch practice, they would have to wait until Thursday. Ginny was a bit upset about having to wait this long and Draco tried to console her by saying they'd still see each other in passing. Ginny nodded and they both turned and walked their separate ways.

Ginny sat up in her bed and yawned widely, she'd had an excellent nights sleep. Now that her and Draco where friends again, did this mean she would have no more nightmares? She hoped so.

"Meow…" purred Rum as he jumped on top of his owner's bed. He was as big and furry as ever.

"Hey you! Haven't seen much of you lately have I?" she cooed as she stroking his smooth red fur. And it was true Ginny hardly ever saw her cat these days and when she did see him he was off playing with Crookshanks, Ginny had a sneaky suspicion that they were more than friends.

The tired Redhead stepped out of bed and dawdled into the bathroom to run a shower, Rum following behind her.

By the time Ginny had finished in the shower the rest of the girls were awake, Pricilla and her two friends had already left and Bonnie and Nuala were rummaging through Bonnie's wardrobe in search of something.

Ginny bid them good morning before pottering around the dorm, she brushed her now dry hair, pulled on her hand-me-robes and packed her bag with the books she needed for that day.

"Hey guys I'm going down to breakfast you coming?" she asked already half way out the door.

"Not yet, you go without us we'll catch up." Mumbled Nuala, she had her head and half her shoulders in Bonnie wardrobe.

"What you looking for?" Ginny asked.

"A book, now go quickly before all the good foods eaten." Pushed Bonnie, Ginny had a feeling there was something they weren't telling her, but decided to let it go for now; she'd question them about it later.

Ginny skipped down the stairs and meet up with Neville Longbottom in the common room, they walked down to breakfast together and Ginny chatted eagerly about Quidditch.

Once Ginny had half finished her breakfast she spotted Luna Lovegood wandering out the doors and decided she'd quite like to talk with her, she grabbed a piece of toast and ran out the hall in order to catch up with her.

"Hey Luna! Wait!" Ginny shouted and Luna stopped.

She turned to look at Ginny and smiled "Hello Ginny."

"What's up?" Ginny asked, falling into step with Luna.

"Oh nothing... I was just thinking."

"'bout what?" Ginny asked whilst taking a bite out of a piece of toast she'd taken with her.

"About how my things always seem to go missing, I think someone may be taking them."

Ginny gasped "As in stealing?"

"Oh no, I'm sure they're just playing. My things always seem to turn up in the end." She commented.

"Oh good. How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

"It's fascinating but I don't think people like me very much, some of them even call me loony."

"No!" gasped Ginny and Luna nodded "That's awful your not loony at all." Ginny had actually heard and stopped many people calling Luna loony, Luna was a bit strange, she always insisted things like the crumple-horned snorkack and wrakspurts existed, but she was Friendly and bright and it made Ginny angry to thing people were picking on her for being different.

Luna smiled dreamily before turning into a classroom after saying goodbye to Ginny.

The rest of Ginny's day was spent sitting in class wishing the day would hurry up and end so she could finally get on the pitch and show Gryffindor how well she can play.

The final lesson of the day drew to a close and Ginny was able to run up to her dorm change out of her school robes and into her Quidditch robes that Oliver had provided for her. Once she was ready she grabbed her old broom, which she refused to replace however old it looked and ran from the common room shouting excited goodbye to her friends.

Ginny sped down the corridor as fast as her little legs would allow her broomstick over her shoulder. She was so excited she could scream.

Once outside Ginny breathed in the winter breeze and tried to calm herself it wouldn't do if she was over excited; she wanted to show Oliver that he hadn't made a mistake by letting her play whilst still in her first year.

Most of the team were already out on the pitch when Ginny arrived.

"Ginny!" welcomed Oliver "Team, I'd like you to meet Ginny Weasley! She's are new Chaser since Alicia's left. Ginny..." he pointed to two girls standing to his right "Your fellow chaser Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell." Ginny nodded and smiled and Oliver continued "and I believe you know the rest of are team, Your Brothers Fred and George our Beaters and of course our Seeker the one and only Harry Potter." Ginny blushed brightly and Harry grinned at her and the twins nudged each other and laughed at their little sister.

"We need to really up our game if we wanna win our next match against Slytherin and we _must_ win this match, I will not let us lose to the snakes, now up in the air people."

Ginny was slightly amused at his need to win, this was a good thing of course, it meant they had a much bigger chance of winning if their captain was so persistent.

Ginny kicked off from the ground along with the rest of the team and was soon being passed the Quaffle from Angelina, she wondered what to do with it when Oliver shouted "Try to score a goal passed Katie, Angelina and the Beaters!" he shouted and she understood. She sped up on her broom, curling passed Katie and Angelina as they tried to block her. She saw the goal posts up ahead and set her aim on reaching there without anyone stopping her. But Angelina and Katie sped up again, each one flying on either side of her, Ginny needed to think fast. Woolloongong Shimmy? That'll work! She whizzed forward moving in a zig-zagging movement, the other two Chasers were in awe at the first year. So shocked in fact that they stopped dead in the sky. Oliver was now shouting at Fred and George for refusing to hit any Bludgers at their little sister. Oliver was too busy shouting at the twins he didn't notice Ginny score a goal, catch the Quaffle again and score another goal. To say the team weren't shocked would be a lie, Oliver however knew how well she could fly and was only slightly shocked and mostly proud that he had found her for the team.

They'd win the cup this year, he was sure of it.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

**A/N: nothing to say really… just enjoy and don't forget to tell me what you thought in a review.**

**DISCLAIMER: **Do I look like J.K.Rowling? She is the owner of Harry Potter, not me! Go on rub it in!

Ginny woke up in the hospital wing, hardly remembering the Quidditch game that had only recently ended. The final score being Gryffindor 280, Slytherin 90.

Ginny remembered how Oliver had, grudgingly shook the Slytherin captains' hand, Madame Hooch had blown her whistle and the heated match had begun.

Ginny had been thrown the Quaffle almost as soon as the game started, the team were eager to flaunt their secret weapon. Everyone was shocked to say the least when Ginny had stepped onto the pitch and that shocked tension in the air had escalated when Ginny had begun to play. She scored their first three goals and Slytherin were already looking stressed. The members of the Slytherin Quidditch team tried their best to distract her by shouting comments that were well below the belt or by snarling or deliberately flying right at her. But none of this bothered Ginny; she was focused on one thing and one thing alone, winning her first match.

She'd, by then, already made a massive contribution to the score that stood at 70 – 30 to Gryffindor, but it wasn't enough, she wanted people to remember her as the girl who helped them win Gryffindor the Quidditch cup.

With that thought in mind Ginny had charged off in the direction of the opposing Quidditch goal hoops, Quaffle tucked securely under her arm. She was so focused that she hadn't noticed the Bludger that had crudely been hit in her direction, until it was too late and she could do nothing but scream as her body dropped quickly from the air.

All she could remember after that was feeling the pressure ease a bit as she slowed down, no doubt landing softer than what would have been expected. Ginny thought she had a clear idea of who had, most likely, saved her life or at least a few broken bones.

Instead she lay in the clean hospital wing with only a sprained wrist and ankle and a few ugly bruises, it could, as people kept reminding her, been a hell of a lot worse.

&

Draco was in the library pretending to read whilst really going though the days events in his head. First he had received a letter from his father explaining as always what was expected of him, how he should be acting in school that included how well he was doing in classes and of course had his mother sends her love. Draco had been nervous when the letter arrived, actually that was an understatement, he had been terrified, but it was clear by the normal almost routinely way the letter had been written that his father was clueless.

Then of course the Slytherin/Gryffindor match had taken place, what a mess that had turned out! Though he supposed that match was destined to cause problems. The schools two most rivalled houses taken part in a competitive game of Quidditch screamed trouble! It really wasn't worth the fuss, Draco liked winning, oh yes he liked it a lot, especially if winning also meant beating the insufferable Gryffindors, but there were many, much easier ways of giving what Gryffindor had coming to them that didn't involve his best friend falling helplessly through the sky because one of his 'friends' had hit a bludger at her, hard.

Draco had swiftly pulled out his wand whilst still being discrete and cast a slowing charm on Ginny meaning she landed on the ground with a 'thud' instead of a 'crack'. Wands were band from Quidditch matches and now all he needed to do was hope no one had saw him.

&

"Oh my goodness! Sweet Merlin no! No, no, no. Miss Weasley needs her rest I can't have a full Quidditch team and co. Barging right threw the hospital wing!" cried an outraged Madame Pomfrey as the whole Quidditch team, Percy, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Bonnie, Taylor, Nuala, Luna and Neville tried to get inside the wing to visit Ginny and wish her well.

"Oh let them in Madame Pomfrey please, company is just what I need right now, please!" Ginny begged.

"Don't be absurd young lady what…" Madame Pomfrey did a quick head count "…fifteen! Fifteen students visiting at once, that's just crazy, I simply won't allow it, you may have only five visitors at one time Miss Weasley and you very well know that." Madame Pomfrey told her sternly.

"Well we're her brothers, we're family! We have every right to be in here!" cried Ron and Madame Pomfrey let the four in.

"Well I'm her best friend!" shouted Bonnie before grinning apologetically at Nuala, Bonnie wasn't Ginny only best friend, but Nuala told her she didn't mind and that she talk to Ginny later and so Bonnie pushed through the small crowd still gathered.

"Sorry! Thank you all for coming and I'll be out soon!" Ginny shouted to the disgruntled people left outside the door.

Her brothers barged their way over to Ginny and each pulled her into a hug, except Percy who was above such things. Bonnie, surprisingly, sat quietly as Ginny chatted with her brothers and they congratulated their baby sister on scoring so many goals, it gave Gryffindor the score boost they needed so Harry was able to catch the snitch without worrying about whether of not the team had enough points.

Once her brothers were finished talking with her they left with a promise to return if she wasn't out the next morning. This meant Ginny was alone with her friend.

"Hey Gin, that was one nasty fall, strange how you survived barely scratched eh?" Bonnie asked with an eyebrow raised. Ginny gulped and wondered how much she knew.

Ginny laughed nervously "um…yeah, I guess I got lucky?" Ginny tried.

"Not a chance." Contradicted Bonnie who looked highly amused she lowered her voice before speaking again "I saw what Draco Malfoy did, why?" she asked in a whisper.

Ginny paused thinking of ways to get herself out of this "Maybe he thought I was someone else?" Bonnie shuck her head, her arms folded across her just a questioning eyebrow still risen. "He… is am impostor! Pretending to be Malfoy?!" Bonnie sighed and laughed along.

"You two are friends aren't you? There's no way he would risk being caught with a wand in the middle of a game if he didn't think saving you was worth getting banned. So, come on… spill and I want details…lots of them." She demanded and Ginny could do nothing but oblige her, though as she recited the tails of her youth she left out lots of things, not wanting to have to share them, not even with her closest friend.

&

The next month was spent with Ginny playing Quidditch and sneaking off to visit Draco. The latter was easier now that Ginny had Bonnie to cover for her when she needed it. Ginny and Draco were as close as they had been all those years ago and Ginny found herself feeling happier each day she spent with him, he was her light, a reprieve, someone she knew she could go to with any problems, whether she wanted comfort, advice or just an ear to listen to her.

"Practice tonight Ginny, don't forget," Reminded Oliver as he passed her in the corridor as she made her way to Transfiguration.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him before responding, "How could I forget Oliver, you remind me every other hour, don't you have anything better to do then hunt down the whole Quidditch team just to remind them of something they already know?"

Oliver just scowled playfully, ruffled her hair and jogged off to catch up with Angelina. Ginny sighed in an aggravated way; Oliver was like the seventh brother that she didn't want nor need. Nuala and Bonnie laughed at the look on Ginny's face before reminding her that McGonagall will have their guts for garters if they didn't hurry up.

&

Ginny and Draco were sitting at the far end of the lake, it was just past curfew so they were alone, Ginny was humming under her breath whilst Draco sat and watched her face.

"Stop staring at me Draco, it's creepy." She whined.

Draco chuckled but looked away "I was just marvelling at how I'd managed to survive without you all those years."

Ginny turned and looked at him curiously "I'm sure your father tried to help you forget." Ginny stated, Draco had explained to her how his father had found out about them, how Lucius had forbidden Draco to even talk about Ginny and how he trained his son in the dark arts.

"I'm sure you're right, but just because he tried to force me to forget about you didn't mean I _did _forget about you Ginny, I never forgot I just pushed the memories to the side."

Ginny sighed they'd already talked about this and she didn't care to speak of such bleak things again but couldn't help but to reply to that comment. "That's what I did too, hid the memories and thought of other things, like what was happening in my life at that time." Draco nodded his agreement.

They both sat in silence for a while, a comfortable silence, it happened frequently when they were together, neither of them had anything to say so neither of them said anything; they were both content enough with simply being together.

Draco chuckled when he remembered Ginny as a younger girl and how she'd talk even if she didn't have anything decent to talk about, she just repeat what she'd already said or talk about something of absolutely no importance, time had matured Ginny Weasley into the girl that Draco sat beside. She was still his best friend; she hadn't changed so much that Draco could claim she was a different person, they were still many similarities between her and her old self.

"What are you wearing to the end of year feast?" Ginny asked Draco.

"What do you mean what am I wearing? I'm wearing my school robes like always."

"Oh! You didn't know? We can wear what ever we like this year, it's not exactly a ball but it's a start. I think nearly everyone is wearing dress robes, I might wear a dress what do you think?"

"A _muggle _dress?" Ginny nodded "Urgh no!"

"It's really pretty and all the other girls in Gryffindor will be wearing dresses, I don't see the problem." She told him sternly.

He muttered something that sounded a lot like _'stupid muggle-loving Gryffindors'._

Ginny smacked his arm lightly and announced that she was going back inside, so with a cheerful wave to Draco Ginny skipped off through the near darkness.

&

"Ohhhhh Ginny! It's beautiful!" Squealed Nuala, while Bonnie looked at Ginny's dress in disgust, her nose wrinkled.

"You don't like it? It might look better on." Ginny said to Bonnie.

"It's not just _your _dress Ginny it's just dresses in general. Why are all the girls wearing the hideous things? Well it doesn't matter, I don't care. I'm going in jeans and that's final." Bonnie told them nodding her head to emphasize the fact that she's already decided and can't be swayed to change her mind.

"Your funeral." Nuala stated "You're gonna look really stupid next to everyone else who'll be wearing their best."

"I don't care what anyone else is wearing and I still don't understand why you're worrying about such things already."

"The feast is in two weeks Bonnie!" Nuala cried.

"EACTLY! _Two _weeks, TWO whole weeks!"

Nuala sighed and settled on shaking her head at the hopeless case.

&

The rest of the week dragged by slowly for Ginny, time was mocking her because it knew she could hardly wait to see her family again. She hadn't seen them since Christmas and this _was _her first year at Hogwarts, they say it's always harder the first time.

Ginny was laughing at some joke Nuala had just cracked when she spotted a blonde head coming up the corridor, she grinned.

As Draco came closer she noticed an annoyed scowl on his pretty face, a boy, only a first year maybe second bumped into Draco's shoulder by accident; the corridor was crowded and people had little room to move. The boy turned to apologise, but Draco didn't wait for an apology, instead he pulled out his wand and hexed the poor boy. People carried on walking, a little faster than before but Ginny stopped dead in her tracks and stared in horror at Draco, he caught her glaring at him and had the grace to look ashamed, but Ginny had a feeling he was only ashamed that she had caught him not that he'd hexed an innocent boy, who was now getting carried away, no doubt going to see Madame Pomfrey.

Ginny jerked her head in the direction of the door and Draco nodded reluctantly.

Ginny hid behind the high bushes beside the main entrance and waited. Draco emerged from the doors and looked around for her; Ginny stuck out her arm and pulled him behind the bush with her.

He stumbled but caught himself before he feel, he was about to shout at her for nearly pulling him over but then he saw her face, tense and red with anger, she had her arms crossed and her foot tapped at the ground impatiently, waiting for an explanation.

Draco just looked down at the floor, unsure exactly why he was hiding from her gaze or why he was acting as though he was going to get given a detention from a teacher.

"Well?" she demanded still glaring.

Draco gulped and looked up "What?"

"Don't you dare 'What?' me Draco Malfoy, you know fine well 'What'." She hissed at him.

Draco sighed "I know, I shouldn't have done that it was wrong, I thought he'd done it on deliberate." Draco tried to defend himself.

"Well if you'd waited you what have saw that he was about to apologise for _accidentally _bumping into you!" she kept her voice low, a harsh whisper.

"I know, I said it was wrong of me but I've just had a bad day, my father wrote to me this morning."

Ginny's arms dropped and her expression softened "What did he want?"

"That doesn't matter." He mumbled.

"Yes it does."

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Tell me."

"He wrote to me saying the date off my initiation had been finalised." He said so quietly that Ginny had to strain to hear it.

"You're what." Ginny asked.

Draco looked reluctant to explain "The date that I shall become a Death eater like my father."

Ginny gasped "NO!"

"Shhhh!" Draco hushed frantically "Some one will hear you."

"Oh no, this is horrible. You won't will you Draco? You won't become one of them, promise me you won't." she demanded, she looked slightly distraught.

Draco hated lying to her, but telling the truth would cause to many unneeded problems "Of course I won't Ginny, I Promise."

Ginny sighed in relief and fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. Draco felt guilt squirm inside him as he looked down on his best friend, the one person whom he'd promised himself he wouldn't lie to; Draco hated breaking promises.

&

"Can you see where my tights are?"

"Does anyone know where my hairspray is?"

"Does this dress make me look fat?"

Ginny's dormitory was buzzing with excitement, as five girls razed to get ready, whilst the sixth lay atop her bed, donning faded blue jeans and a dark blue t-shirt, she was trying to read a book but the noise of her panicking roommates left Bonnie unable to concentrate. She sighed and heaved herself up off her bed. "I'll be in the common room if anyone needs me!" she yelled, not that anyone heard her anyway.

"Are you sure I shouldn't wear the pink one Ginny?" Nuala asked worriedly.

"Yes I'm positive, this one looks stunning on you and the black and silver makes you seem older." Ginny responded to her friend whilst touching up her makeup. Nuala seemed satisfied with Ginny's answer and carried on drying her hair the muggle way, she was convinced that drying ones hair with a charm would eventually make it fall out.

"Bonnie and I have a special surprise planned for you down stairs." Nuala whispered as Ginny struggled into her forest green dress, she looked up with curious eyes.

"Oh?"

"Yes but we need to be positioned at the right place at the right time if we want a perfect view." She whispered again and Ginny nodded wondering what her two best friends were up to.

Pricilla bumped Nuala out the way so she could have the whole mirror, Pricilla had spent nearly the whole day perfecting her outfit, stressing if something wasn't perfect and shouting at anyone who got in her way. Nuala didn't yell at Pricilla like Ginny would have expected, instead she simply smiled and walked away.

"Hurry up then Ginny, I'm ready, let's go pick up Bonnie and get down stairs." Ginny agreed and the two, recently primped and polished girls skipped down the stairs to meet their other friend. Bonnie was waiting for them at the bottom, receiving some curious glances from the other extravagantly dressed people in the room, of which she seemed oblivious to.

The three of them walked through the corridors arm-in-arm. Stopping several times to greet friends and compliment their attire. The three spotted Pricilla and her cronies speeding down the corridor and Ginny didn't miss the evil grins Bonnie and Nuala sent each other. She was getting very suspicious now.

Bonnie and Nuala charged down the corridor, pulling Ginny along with them until they were rounding the corner leading to the Great Hall and Ginny noticed Pricilla reach out and open the doors to the Great Hall. Nuala nudged Ginny and Ginny looked at her, then Bonnie then back to Pricilla, "NO!" Ginny shouted but it was too late Pricilla had opened the door and screamed as a bucket of green goo tipped itself on top of her head, soaking her hair, dripping down her perfectly makeup-ed face and staining her beautiful dress.

Bonnie and Nuala were rolling on the ground laughing, as was nearly everyone else in a 20 metres radius of the poor girl, sitting on the floor crying. Ginny's heart went out to her, how could her friends, the people she loved, noble Gryffindors do something that evil to a fellow student? What ever Pricilla had done in the past Ginny didn't feel she deserved to be publicly humiliated like she was being.

Ginny walked forward slowly and reached a hand out to her poor girl. Pricilla looked at the hand and then its owner. She took a sharp intake of air before grasping Ginny's hand and using it to pull herself up.

"Come on." Ginny whispered "Lets get you cleaned up."

The people who had been laughing stared in shock as the two girl passed by them, Ginny with her arm around Pricilla's shaking shoulders, the people who hadn't laughed stared in admiration of Ginny who'd been able to do what none of them had the nerve to do.

Ginny took Pricilla up to their dormitory, where Pricilla showered and dried quickly, before walking from the bathroom and sitting down on her bed, sighing.

"Thank you." She muttered and Ginny understood how hard that had been for her, being such a proud person. "I owe you one."

Ginny grinned "Now what are you gonna wear?" Ginny asked herself thoughtfully "The feast starts in ten minutes, we haven't got much time." Pricilla looked up in shock.

"I can't go!" she cried "I have nothing to wear and I don't want to be laughed at again."

"Don't be silly of course you have something to wear didn't you see Bonnie? She was just dressed in casual clothes and she looked damn good in them, now come on get your jeans and I'll get mine, we're going to show those people downstairs that we don't need stupid dresses, loads of makeup or nice hair to look good." Ginny announced her face set in determination.

"_We_?" Bonnie asked, doubtful.

"Of course _we_, now get a move on."

It turned out Pricilla looked really good in just jeans and a t-shirt. It didn't look as though she was trying too hard to look pretty, instead she looked naturally pretty. The two of them laughed and joked in an excited way as they left the common room and rushed down to the Great Hall.

They entered the through the doors, whilst everyone was still settling down and so few people noticed the girls walk in and sit down at their house table, among that few were Dumbledore who sent Ginny a knowing and grateful smile and Draco who had seen what had happened earlier and was shocked at how brave and kind Ginny had been to the girl had that deliberately tried to get Ginny into trouble, of which Draco had had to get her out of. He was proud of her.

"Welcome!" Professor Dumbledore bellowed opening his arms wide as if trying to embrace all his students. "To the end of year feast and I see you all have taken full advantage of the treat of choosing your own attire, well done! First I'd like to congratulate you all on a wonderful year at Hogwarts, you've all done your best in and outside of lessons, you are all talented young Witches and Wizards and that's the reason I am so very proud to be Headmaster of such a wonderful school. For some this is the end of your time here at Hogwarts, to those I bid farewell and all the happiness you deserve in you future years, but to others this is only the beginning and to those I'd like to thank in advance for the asset I'm sure they'll be to this school.

"And now, can we all give a round of applause to this years Quidditch Cup champions, GRYFFINDOR!" the hall erupted in cheers of victory from the Gryffindors, cheers and clapping from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table who were simply glad someone had beaten Slytherin, but the Slytherin table of course stayed silent.

Ginny barely heard Dumbledore announce that Gryffindor came in second place for the House cup and Ravenclaw received first place, she was too busy worrying about Draco, he was staring into space, not paying any attention to his surroundings and Ginny scared for him, would he be OK? Would he manage to persuade his father not to make him get the mark? Or would he give in, go against his promise and become a Death Eater just as his father before him? Only time would tell, only time could reveal the truths and for Ginny was her time of staying Blissfully Innocent running out…?

**A/N: This was the last chapter but there will be an epilogue, review please, I've worked really hard on this story, don't you think I deserve a little review? Maybe? Yes? Good! **


	9. Epilogue

Blissfully Innocent Epilogue

**A/N: Here's your epilogue people, I hope you enjoy it, it's set in Ginny's sixth year and Draco's seventh and hopefully it'll answer more questions than it makes haha. If it doesn't, sorry, and feel free to ask me them in a review or PM. **

Epilogue

Sixteen year old Ginny Weasley sat laughing as her friend Nuala danced about, waving her arms in the air and kicking her legs out. This wasn't unusual behaviour for one of Ginny's best friends, oh no, it was the affects of a back-fired spell cast by Ginny's other best friend Bonnie Prescott, which happened…well…often.

Growing up with friends like Bonnie and Nuala had almost made her immune to strange things; her friends were rather… eccentric. If it wasn't Bonnie screaming blue murder because Nuala had died all her clothes pink then it was Nuala hopping up and down due to a hex bonnie had affectionately cast on her. A week wouldn't go by where one of the two of them wasn't laying on a bed in the hospital wing claiming their best friend had made their head invisible or charmed their tongue so it would knot itself every time they tried to talk.

But Ginny, though she whined a lot, never grew sick of her best girlfriends. At least life was never boring with them around. And if life or friends became too much for Ginny it handle she always had Draco Malfoy to turn to. Draco Malfoy was a gift from the Gods and Ginny promised herself she'd never take him for granted. He was there for her always, never judging or hurting her. He gave without receiving, never demanding anything in return.

For nearly five years they'd spent almost every night together, in the library or by the lake. Ginny's friends eventually gave up asking her where she went in the late evening, why she never returned till hours after curfew or who she spent all that time with. The answers would always be the same 'I was outside, walking.', 'I lost track of time' and 'No one; I was alone'. Only Bonnie knew the truth, or suspected the truth at least. But if she really did know that Ginny spent nearly every night with Draco Malfoy she didn't show it, she remained quiet if people questioned Ginny and never questioned Ginny herself. Ever since the conversation they'd shared in the hospital Bonnie never brought the topic of 'Draco Malfoy' up unless Ginny did first and even then she didn't contribute much, never sharing her thoughts or opinions, but Ginny was still thankful to have someone to talk about him to.

Ginny couldn't call Draco her best friend because that seemed so much less than what he really was. There wasn't a word for it, a way to describe how special he was to her. When you've spent years apart from someone you deeply love only then can you really understand how important they are to your happiness. Ginny and Draco never spoke much of the years they'd spent apart, not because they couldn't bear to relive it but because they'd already talked about it and they was nothing else to say on the matter, why dwell on a painful past when they could focus on the happy present or the hope filled future?

The years since Ginny's first year had past in a blur of happy days. Her school years would be the ones she'd always remember has the best in her life.

Draco was currently in seventh year and revising hard for his NEWT exams, Ginny noticed how stressed he seemed at a night time when the 'hustle bustle' of the school day had died down and every student was in they bed dreaming happy things. Draco would be worrying, Ginny thought she understood why he was taking these tests so much more seriously than anyone else, his father was always writing to him, demanding had he succeed in all that he does, threatening him until Draco was too afraid to get even one question wrong. Ginny often felt guilty for spending time with him when it seemed he'd rather use it to revise further, but he assured her almost every night that he wanted to see her and that he needed the break, he insisted that his 'meetings' with her were the only thing keeping him sane. Ginny agreed that he needed more breaks, more fun, he needed to relax a little before the stress lines on his forehead became permanent.

"Stop it Ginny, it's fine, leave me be!" Draco moaned as Ginny tried to tuck in his shirt and straighten his tie.

"I just want you to look your best."

"Why! It's an exam not a photo shoot why on earth would I want to look good?!" he asked her incredulously.

Ginny huffed "Fine! Look like a tramp! See if I care."

"You're worrying about this more than I am." He stated and she raised her eyebrows in disbelieve. "Hurry up and get out, the others will be coming up soon and imagine what it would look like if they walked in now when you have your hands up half way up my shirt." He teased her.

Ginny removed her hands from the hem of his shirt stuck her tongue out. "They wouldn't think any differently about you than they already do; everyone knows you have a new girl every week."

"Is that so? I wonder who started these ridiculous rumours, they're threatening my virtue." Ginny snorted "Besides everyone _also_ knows you're the only girl for me Gin." He gushed pulling her into his arms.

She rolled her eyes and pulled away from him. Anyone watching them might have thought they were star-crossed lovers, but that certainly wasn't the case, Ginny and Draco were simply friends, nothing more. Or at least that's what Ginny told herself.

Draco pouted and Ginny snorted again, gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked briskly over to Draco's dormitory window, broom in hand "Good luck Draco!" she shouted to him before flying out the open window.

Draco touched his cheek where she'd kissed him and sighed. She'd never understand that he wanted to be more than just friends with her. And why ruin something as perfect as their friendship on the off chance that a relationship between them would work? Didn't she already consider him more of a brother than anything else? Of course she did and Draco couldn't stand rejection, especially from her.

Draco picked up his bag and headed downstairs, ready to face the exams that would hopefully be a piece of cake after how much time he'd spent preparing for them.

Ginny sat in the library reading a fascinating book on Hippogriffs. She was sitting at the table where she and Draco always at in the evening, before it got so late the Madame Pince demanded that they leave. It was two-seater table in the very far corner of the library hidden by a huge multi-storey bookcase. She didn't know what had possessed her to sit in Draco's sit but she had, maybe it was to see the library from his point of view? But of course it wouldn't be the same because Ginny couldn't be in two places at once therefore Ginny wasn't sitting opposite herself.

She looked down at her book that lay flat on the table and began to read again, but something caught her eye. A carving in the wood of the table, it looked worn down through years on people dumping books onto it but Ginny could just about make it out

DM (Heart) GW

Ginny smiled brightly when memories of her first year came back to her, so that's what Draco had been trying to hide when Ginny had seen him carving something into the old wood. Ginny chuckled softly.

After that Ginny couldn't get Draco from her mind, she was worried about him; she was hoping desperately that he would do alright during his first NEWT. She packed up early, intending to meet him when he came out of the Great Hall.

Ginny hummed her way down the corridor in a carefree manner, and it suddenly occurred to her… life was good! She had no problems no worries, she had her best friends and the beloved family and her Draco and life couldn't get much better than this.

The seventh years were just leaving the hall as Ginny arrived, she caught Draco's eye and averted her gaze to the doors, he nodded ever so slightly so she knew he understood.

Ginny skipped down the path that lead to the far end of the lake, it was always shaded and cold by that part of the lake and so no one ever usually came, meaning it was the perfect place for Ginny and Draco to meet.

Ginny glanced behind her and noticed that Draco was following. Ginny smiled at him and carried on walking swiftly.

As soon as Draco caught up to her she wrapped him in a hug "How was it? Was it absolutely awful? Were you really scared? How hard was it? Did you think you done well?" she on onslaught of questioned without giving him the chance to reply. He laughed and pulled out of their embrace.

"It was fine Ginny honestly, I wasn't a little scared, nervous but not scared, it wasn't hard at all and yes I think I did well. Any more questions?" he asked humour swimming in his eyes.

"Yes actually. How on earth did you manage to keep that carving hidden from me for so long?" she asked smirking at his puzzled expression. Then it dawned on him and his expression turned into that of embarrassment.

"Oh yes, you mean the one on the table inside the library?" she nodded "Well I didn't want you to find out like this, but I'm in love with your brother George Weasley." He said seriously with his own smirk playing his lips.

Ginny smacked his arm and burst out laughing, trust Draco to turn an embarrassing situation in his favour.

Ginny chatted to him about her new book she'd been reading and he told her about the questions he could remember from his exam. Ginny stopped dead in the middle of a conversation. "What is it?" he asked, concerned.

Ginny stood up and walked around the tree they'd been sitting behind, she could feel someone watching her, staring. And sure enough as the Ginny's eyes scanned the grounds of Hogwarts she found a boy around her age, seventh year maybe looking at her, she caught his eye and he looked away quickly.

Ginny walked back behind the tree and slide down it, landing on her bottom. Her face was screwed up as she thought about why on earth he would have been staring. "You ok?" Draco asked cautiously. It snapped Ginny out of her reverie and she nodded quickly "What happened, what's wrong?"

"You see that boy over there?" she whispered pointing towards the back of the boy who'd been staring at her "He was staring at me." She sounded worried. Draco looked to where she was pointing and a low growl formed in his chest as he recognised him.

"You know him?" Ginny asked.

Draco nodded stiffly "Steven Holks." He spat out the name with more venom than Ginny thought possible. Draco looked away and tried to calm himself he was scaring Ginny. "Yes I know him, he's a Slytherin in my year and he…" Draco pursed his lips and looked away from Ginny's confused gaze, he sighed and continued "... he's interested in you."

"He's what?" Ginny asked her confusion growing.

"He _likes _you!" when Ginny still didn't seem any less confused Draco ran his head threw his hair and sighed again "He fancy's you Ginny." He told her grudgingly before going back to staring daggers at Steven Holks.

"Oh." Ginny responded in a small voice a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Do you like him?" Draco managed to get out through his gritted teeth.

"I don't know him." Ginny responded quietly wondering why Draco seemed so… Touchy? Irate? Snappy? Tense?

"Well you wouldn't like him even if you did know him; he's a horrible kid, evil in fact. I don't want you any where near him, understood?"

"You're not my father Draco, I'll go near anyone I want to go near!" she reply regretting it immediately. He clenched his fist so hard his knuckles went white and he was practically foaming at the mouth. Why was he so upset over this? _He_ wasn't the one that was getting stared at! And suddenly, as though the answer had been sitting there right along, it clicked into place. First the teasing that morning, then the carving in the library and now he was angry at a boy because he fancied her. "Draco? You're not jealous are you?" she asked almost laughing.

"So what if I am!" he growled at her and Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "Sorry," he sighed "I shouldn't have spoke to you like that but the things he says about you in the common room is enough to make me want to rip him limp from limp, in fact Blaise has had to stop me from doing exactly that on many occasions." He admitted.

"Maybe I should thank this Blaise." Ginny muttered under her breath. "Don't get in trouble on my account Draco. I mean that I don't want you fighting with anyone!" she scolded him.

"If I can't act like your father then you can't act like my mother, so quit telling me what to do." He huffed. She crawled over and curled up on his lap.

"Stop stressing, you have enough to worry about without worrying about me too." She murmured into his chest. He sighed, winding his arms around her.

"I know that, but I just hate the idea of any boy but me loving you." He told her.

"But it wouldn't be the same kind of love, even if I did decided to go out with Steven Holks." Draco stiffened "Which I never will." She assured him.

"Even if it isn't the same type of love, it's still love right? I mean is there really a big difference between how I feel about you and how Steven Holks feels about you?" he asked, biting the inside of his cheek nervously.

"I would hope your love for me is a little stronger than a teenage crush Draco." she teased, not exactly the answer he'd had in mind, but it's a start.

"It most definitely is." He told her and she smiled up at him. Draco had the strangest urge to kiss her smiling lips, would she allow that? He wasn't sure; he wanted to be absolutely sure. "Lets go in I'm staving and dinner should be ready soon." He told her reluctantly, he didn't want to have to move her from his lap but knew he must.

The next morning Ginny woke up before anyone else and therefore could get washed in peace, without having to fight for a spot at the sink, one bathroom between six people was just crazy!

Once she was washed she checked the time before, not so gently, waking up her friends. After Ginny had helped Pricilla at the end of year feast their relationship had been friendly, not too friendly, but they were certainly civil towards each other and Ginny knew she could ask Pricilla if she needed a favour. It seemed that the years had humbled Pricilla some what and she no longer saw herself as a princess who deserved to be waited on hand and foot. Of course time couldn't work miracles and so Pricilla was still bossy, demanding and still thought of herself as better than a lot of people, but at least living with her was bearable now.

Everyone was up and dressed by quarter to eight. Ginny told her friends about Steven Holks, leaving out the part where Draco got so mad Ginny thought his head may explode. The girls were ecstatic with the news, Nuala was already planning the wedding and Bonnie was promising to look up baby names.

"Will you two please calm down?! I'm not marrying Steven Holks and I'm most certainly not having his children, because I'm not even going to go out with him."

The two girls looked star struck "W-w-w-what!" spluttered Nuala.

"Ginny," Bonnie whined "He's really, really, good-looking."

"I don't care if he could give the Greek Gods a run for their money I'm not interested." She told them stubbornly "Besides I promised a friend that I wouldn't go out with him." she gave Bonnie a significant look and understanding light up her pretty face.

"Who? Coz who ever she is, she's only saying that because she's jealous!" Nuala practically yelled at her.

Ginny smiled at how partly accurate Nuala's assumption was "It's not a 'she'."

"Oh." Nuala reply stuck on how to reply to that. Ginny smirked at her reaction. Until she heard what Nuala had to say about her friend being a boy. "Well then it's obvious!" She announced "This friend of yours fancy's you, he's not jealous of you, he's jealous of Steven Holks." She said proudly.

Ginny swallowed her lump in her throat before replying, they made it too their house table and were now sitting down.

"Maybe he was a bit jealous but that doesn't mean he fancy's me! He's just really protective; we go way back."

Nuala raised an eyebrow "Yeah ok, you keep believing that if it make you happy, but I'm telling you, mark my words," Nuala pointed her spoon at Ginny whilst she talked with a serious expression on her face "That boy loves you, and I don't mean the brotherly love either, I mean he's _in_ love with you."

"That's crazy talk Nuala, you don't understand, you can't possibly understand when you don't know the situation." Ginny told her desperately looking for a way to prove Nuala wrong; Draco wasn't _in_ love with her, right? Ginny looked at Bonnie with pleading eyes but she just looked down at her breakfast.

"What ever you say Ginny."

Ginny picked up a spoonful of cereal but suddenly didn't feel like eating. If what Nuala said was true then Draco loved in a different way than she ever thought he would. Could she handle that? A little part of Ginny was telling her that she already knew it and that that was fine with her because maybe, just maybe she felt that way to. Ginny shook her head as if trying to rid her mind of those preposterous thoughts.

"Hey heads up Ginny, mails in!"

Ginny looked up as a few hundred owls of all shapes and colours came flying into her Great Hall. She was expecting a letter from her mother any day soon and she'd subscribed to Daily Prophet this year. With Voldemort and his Death Eaters still at large it was a good idea to know what was happening these days.

Ginny was puzzled when three owls landed next to, well actually on top of, her breakfast.

She untied Errol's letter first, knowing who it was from and then the daily Prophet from an important looking owl. They both flew off after Ginny had paid the second owl for her newspaper. The third owl, completely white, sat looking at her expectantly with its right leg raised. Ginny frowned and untied the expensive parchment, recognising the neat writing as being Draco's.

Her mothers letter contained the usual, how are you? Are you eating probably? Have you heard from your brothers?

She pulled Draco's letter under the table and unfolded it.

_Ginny_

_Meet me on the astronomy tower at midnight tonight, there's something I want to show you. Dress warmly._

_Draco_

Ginny furrowed her brow. That was strange; Draco never wrote to her and they never meet at the astronomy tower. Suddenly Ginny felt scared, after speaking with her friends, even though Nuala didn't really know what she was talking about, it had still made her realise, maybe, just maybe she loved him a little more than a friend. The thought was daunting and Ginny shivered even though the atmosphere in the Great Hall was stifling hot.

She looked up from the letter, her eyes searching the length of the Slytherin table until she caught his eye. He smiled slightly and she returned it shakily. She couldn't look at him for too long and so turned her gaze back to her mail, unrolling her copy of the Daily Prophet. The eyes widened in horror.

**Death Eaters strike again.**

_A young family of five were found dead in their family home. It's suspected that the deaths happened at around 2:00am, cause of death - various torturing curses and finally the Killing Curse. The ministry have confirmed that at least three Death Eaters were involved and Lucius Malfoy is currently undergoing a trail, the ministry is still on the look out for the other Death Eaters involved. _

_Bernard and Emma Brookwest and their three children, Sophia aged 7, Jonathan aged 3 and Hope aged 1 were brutally murdered whilst they slept, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is still trying to work out the reasons behind the murders, was it simply a killing spree? Or did Bernard or Emma hold information that was vital to the Death Eaters and when they refused to talk the Death Eaters simply killed them? _

_Lucius Malfoy has been interrogated but the Ministry are refusing to give in any information they may have received from him. It is thought that Mr Malfoy will be spending quite a long time in Azkaban but the high court is yet to reach its verdict._

_The funeral will be held in two weeks at Godric's Hallow, it's an open funeral meaning anyone is welcome to go and pay their respects to the poor family that lost their lives. _

Ginny read the short article through two times just to make sure she'd really gotten the facts right. Lucius Malfoy? Lucius Malfoy as in Draco's dad, as In Draco's dad who'd separated them all those years ago? He was an evil man and Ginny should be glad that he would soon be in Azkaban where he couldn't wreck anymore lives. But how could she be happy about this? He was Draco's father regardless of how many bad things he'd done in his life. Surely, if his dad was on trial for murder Draco would be miserable or at least a little upset, but quite the contrary, he looked positively joyful as Ginny watched him laugh and joke with his Slytherin friends. He was happy about this? Well, Ginny was sure Lucius had made life difficult for Draco, not only difficult but painful a lot of the time too. Maybe he was truly happy about this turn of events.

Draco had read the newspaper even though he'd known what it would say. He sighed once before covering his face in a mask of indifference. But inside he was screaming… 'How dare my Father let himself get caught!' 'This was it! The Dark Lord would not forgive him his mistake a second time. He'd over looked the Department of Mysteries saga, but there was no way he'd forgive my father a second time' 'The fool!'

Draco looked at the black and white moving picture of his father, well aware that most the Slytherin student body were staring at him. What? Did they expect him to burst out in tears? Or maybe they were expecting him to pull on Death Eater mask and kill them all. He'd tried laughing it off with his friends, but the accusing eyes were becoming too much. With one more resounding sigh he heaved himself up the bench and stormed from the Great Hall, a few hundred pair's eyes following him.

He ran from the main doors of the castle, past the lake to the shaded part behind the trees. He sunk to his knees, his hands pulling at his hair in frustration "ARGH!!" the birds rose from the trees at the loud sound, flying off into the distance just like Draco wished he could… pure freedom.

But instead he was trapped, trapped in his own skin with too many expectations to fulfil, to many worries and tasks to deal with and now his father had made things a hundred times worse for him, he would pay for his fathers mistake.

He could just imagine the Dark Lord and his many ways of torturing people. Most, he could deal with, he'd been raised to deal with such things, he'd almost became immune to most forms of torture, but the Dementors, Draco shuddered at the thought, those he couldn't deal with, not for very long at least. Because the memories the Dementors dragged up were worse than any form of punishment the Dark Lord could concoct inside his small twisted mind. There was nothing worse than having to relive those first few weeks, the emptiness, the loneliness. Those first few weeks away from his Ginny, he had only been eight years old and yet he'd had to deal with the worst pain he'd ever endured, even now when his life was in constant danger of abruptly ending, nothing could compare to how that had felt. To have had something you'd loved more than anything else snatched away from you. That was what Draco never wished to feel again, something he wouldn't even wish upon his worst enemy, not even Potter… Maybe Voldemort.

As though Voldemort had heard his thoughts Draco forearm cried out in pain, the feeling of flesh bubbling as it burned. But when Draco pulled back his sleeve to look upon the ugly Mark of a Death Eater he saw that his skin wasn't actually burning. His master was calling for him. But he wouldn't go. What was the point? Turn up, get tortured and then killed? Oh No, Draco had plans this evening and nothing was swaying him from them. Voldemort could kill him some other time, if he _was _going to die than he was making damn sure that he had no regrets.

&

Ginny sighed and tossed aside another outfit in her hunt for the perfect one. "Just wear your Blue robes Ginny!" Bonnie yelled "Ouch! Nuala!"

"Sorry! Was that your toe?"

Bonnie growled and moved away from Nuala who had her headphones on trying to learn 'Step-by-step ballroom dancing' she'd already nearly sprained her ankle but down right refused to give up.

"I'm serious Ginny! Were the blue robes, they've got the whole 'I know I look good in these, but guess what? I'm not even trying' thing going on." Then she changed her voice to a whisper "I know Draco will love them."

Ginny's mouth fell open and her eyes bulged, that had been the first time Bonnie had ever mentioned Draco, ever!

"Close your mouth Ginny you'll catch flies!" Bonnie shouted before leaping onto her bed, occupying herself by charming Nuala's headphones to say 'Now, flap your wings and shout 'I'm a turkey!'

Ginny shook her head in utter confusion before slipping into the blue robes. Well, she could hardly have argued after what Bonnie had said.

"I'll see you both later!" Ginny shouted so Nuala could hear her through the odd commands.

"I want all the juicy details when you get back and I mean that!" Bonnie shouted while Nuala pulled off her headphones and frowned at them.

Ginny gulped hoping and praying there wouldn't _be _any juicy details.

_But is that really what you're hoping?_

_**Yes!**_

_Don't lie to yourself!_

_**Am not lying!**_

_Are too!_

_**Am not!**_

_Ok, shut up! You are me! How can you not agree with me?! Anyway I don't care, I know I don't want any 'juicy details' and that's final!_

_**What ever you say…**_

Ginny stood outside the common room hardly believing she'd just had an argument with herself! _'Maybe I'm going crazy, it's not like I hadn't expected it, growing up with those two'_ She thought to herself, picking up pace, whilst staying in the shadows. She was used to sneaking around after curfew and would say she was most definitely a pro at it by now, but she still got caught now and again and Draco understood that if she didn't show up than she'd been caught.

She reached the bottom of the astronomy tower no problem and now it was only the strange feeling of nervousness that she was battling that stopped her from running up the winding steps. Why did she have a feeling that this time she saw Draco it would be different?

She decided to throw caution to the winds and ascend the steps despite this 'feeling'. What on earth could she be afraid of? This was Draco, for crying out loud! She was always so comfortable around him probably more comfortable around him than anyone else!

She was being silly and she knew it, soon she'd reached the top of the steps and walked forward to get a better view. She gasped, shooting stars! And lots of them. She never seen the sky so full of twinkling light, it made her head spin simply looking at them, flying through the navy blue sky, shooting in all directions without a care in the world! The sky was the limit for those stars and they took full advantage of it. The whole night sky was so bright it didn't seem like night at all, Ginny had never seen anything as breathtaking in her life.

"Enjoying it?" a silky sooth voice whispered from behind her. Ginny jumped at the shock but calmed down when she realised who it was and she didn't turn around, not wanting to miss a second of the spectacular scene in front of her. She sighed in awe again and nodded her red head. Draco smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close against his chest. He laid his head on her shoulder and watched the stars with her. Ginny bit her lip, torn between not wanting to feel uncomfortable with their positions and wanting to enjoy the stars. And, if she was being entirely truthful with herself she quite liked having Draco this close to her.

She could feel how warm his body was through the thin material of her robes and she felt safe and secure wrapped in his arms. He was breathing calmly into her ear and she listened, matching her breathing to his. She rested her hands on top of his which were still clasped together around her waist. She felt a pleasurable shiver up her spine when she touched him and didn't regret going that night. It was perfect, she felt truly calm like she was at one with nature… with Draco. They were breathing equally and, with it being so dark, it was hard to see were Ginny started and Draco ended through the robes and limps. Ginny had never felt happy then when she was with Draco and that night was no exception.

Ginny closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of the night breeze and Draco pressed up against her. Draco's breath moved down to her neck as he kissed it lightly, Ginny's eyes shot open, Draco carried on up to her jaw and Ginny was didn't know whether she should do what was probably best and stop him or do would she wanted and let him continue. "Draco… what are you doing?" she whispered.

"Keeping my promise." He whispered softly in her ear. Understanding dawned on her and she reached her arm out behind her, wrapping it around Draco's neck before he spun her around in his arms.

He looked down into her beautiful brown eyes and felt nothing but love for that girl, the one who'd stuck with him through all the years and the one he knew would stick with him for many more to come, his childhood sweetheart, his best friend and maybe is lover.

He waited one more, long second, smiled slightly before pressing his lips against hers.

**A/N: Well that's the end –sob– it was sort of a happy ending right? I mean sure Draco's a Death Eater but Ginny got her first kiss. Pretty please review! It won't talk long and I reply to all of them.**

**Saphira00 – Here your jealous Draco!**


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